AUTHOR'S NOTE: Chapters 14-16 are effectively parts 1, 2, and 3 of one event.  I've done my best to make them self-contained, but chapters 14 and 15 may still feel like they have abrupt endings.

               I'd rather put them out sequentially like this on my schedule, rather than make you wait for well over a month for the full scene.

               Whether you read these chapters as I post them or wait until they're all out, thanks for reading.  I love writing this story, and love that people will read it.

               OK, let's get this started.

 

Chapter 15

Uncharted Wilderness

New St Andrews IV, The Periphery

Rimward of the Circinus Federation

30 May 3077

 

               Marie eased back on the throttle, letting Bower keep up while she chased after Wolfgang and Thomas.  She knew she should be frustrated with the speed, but she appreciated the moment to breathe.  Her mouth was dry and her heart was hammering in her chest.  She managed to get a water bottle out of her emergency stores, opening her neurohelmet enough to have a few swallows before she focused back on piloting.  She kept glancing at the Blossom’s wireframe damage display, double-and-triple-checking that the Vulcan had only gotten a few hits in.

               It was slow going even as the Arbiter bled off heat and got back up to its full speed.  After a seemingly interminable time they were coming up on the waypoint on Marie’s displays.  The first sign of trouble was the flash of laser fire in the distance, making Marie’s heart accelerate again.  She checked her sensors to see Wolf and Loaner ahead of her, along with blips of three other fusion plant signatures, accompanied by BattleMech IFF codes.

               “Bower, close up your cockpit!  We got trouble,” she warned.  She switched over to the lance comm channel.  “Wolf, those are BattleMechs, what are you seeing?”

               “You’re about to find out, one just got by me!” Wolfgang shot back.

               Marie’s hands tightened on the joysticks.  In the rush of adrenaline she maneuvered the Blossom between the Arbiter and an incoming reactor signature.  Within moments a Javelin came into view, running quickly between the trees.  Bower reacted first by firing his arm cannon at the thing, but succeeded only in obliterating a tree next to it.  Marie flinched and tried to follow up with her lasers, managing to score a glancing hit.  Not to be outdone, the Javelin opened fire with its array of short-range missiles, filling the air with contrails from the warheads.

               Marie leaned away from the missiles and tried to keep her targeting reticule on the Javelin, but quickly lost her aim as the lighter ‘Mech hit its jump jets and leapt up into the sky.  Out the corner of her eye she saw Bower aiming up at the ‘Mech. 

               “Bower, hold fire!” she snapped.  Bower’s ‘Mech was already heating back up from the last few seconds, she didn’t need him roasting in his cockpit, let alone wasting the handful of rounds he had for his gun trying to hit a fast-moving target. 

               “Form up on me, we’re rejoining the rest of the lance!” Marie shouted at him.  She turned the Blossom towards Wolf, keeping one eye on the Javelin.  It was jumping away from them, probably trying to get them to chase it and split them off from the rest of the lance again.  She figured they had a few seconds before the Javelin’s pilot figured out they weren’t taking the bait.

               Bower fell into line behind her without much complaint, and they closed in on Wolf and Loaner.  Marie kept looking at her screens, waiting for her computers to identify the other two reactor signatures while her sensors fritzed again.  She felt a chill as she stepped into a small clearing and spotted Wolf and Loaner facing off against the Wolverine from earlier, along with a Quickdraw. 

               “Wolf, pull back!” she warned.  “I’ll call in Fleetfoot and Katamari!”

               “Don’t get your panties in a knot, girl,” Wolfgang replied flippantly.  “I got this guy right where I want him.”

               You’re engaged with two ‘Mechs twice your size, at least sound like you might be in trouble, Marie thought. 

               She did her best to push down her jitters at the thought of going back into combat.  She focused on the job ahead of her, namely trying to support her lancemates.  Loaner and Wolf were just across the clearing from her, Loaner in particular sporting missile and laser scars, pinned down with PPC fire as the Wolverine advanced on it.  Even so, both Hussars were holding their ground, Loaner taking cover in the trees while Wolf ran laterally along the treeline circling the Quickdraw.  Marie heard Wolfgang whoop in excitement as a flight of SRMs shot out of his chest and arm launchers.  Explosions scattered all over the Quickdraw, but it barely even swayed on its feet. 

               Marie winced as the Quickdraw fired its lasers at Wolf.  The emerald beams came so close that the Commando’s armor blistered on its arms, but somehow it avoided a direct hit.  Wolfgang returned fire with everything he had, then he swerved, using the cover from his missile fire to try dodging around the big ‘Mech and force it to keep him in its sights.  The air swarmed with LRMs as the Quickdraw fired its long-range missiles.  It should have been too close to be accurate, but the Commando vanished in a cloud of smoke and debris as missiles scattered all around it.  With her sensors and comms scrambled Marie had no idea whether Wolf had survived the strike.  Still, she took advantage of the larger ‘Mech’s distraction and turned her guns on it. 

               “Bower, engage!  Wolf needs our help!” she shouted.  Without waiting for a response she squeezed the triggers.  Her lasers traced over the Quickdraw, carving armor out of its flank but not punching through.  Her heat warnings started going off almost immediately, but she still felt a chill as the Quickdraw twisted at the waist to look at her.  In the back of her mind it registered that it was an upgraded variant, with an Artemis-guided LRM launcher in its chest and extended-range lasers in its arms.  The rest of her was panicking at the realization a sixty-ton BattleMech had her in its sights.  She hastily tried to dodge as the Quickdraw opened fire on her.

               Next to her Bower did not fire, but instead tracked something behind them.  Marie glanced at her compressed display, her heart lurching as she saw the Javelin had come back around and was flanking her.  She slammed the control stick to the side, frantically turning herself out of the way as the Javelin’s missiles scattered around her, turning a chunk of the forest into ashes and splinters of exploded trees.  Marie fell back and started lining up another shot, but a flight of missiles streaking through the trees and exploding over her chest quickly shifted her attention back to the Quickdraw.

               “Bower, get to Loaner and support him!  I’ll draw this guy away!” she shouted, hoping she sounded convincing.  She knew they had to keep moving; right now she and Bower were sandwiched between the Javelin and the other two ‘Mechs, meaning if they stayed put someone would get a shot at their thin rear armor.  She knew Bower wasn’t mobile enough to get out of that on his own, so it was on her to change the equation.

               She tapped her jump jets, launching herself across the clearing.  As she’d predicted the Javelin tried to pursue her, giving Bower a little breathing room.  Unfortunately her jump also brought her right across the Wolverine’s front firing arc.  Its pilot fired reflexively, sending pulse lasers dancing over the Blossom’s legs. 

               Marie stumbled on her landing, but caught herself and kept the Blossom moving.  Her wireframe was turning yellow in multiple places, but the Wolverine was not focusing on her, instead turning its attention back on Loaner.

               “Lance leader, reporting contact with a Quickdraw and a Wolverine!” she sent over the lance frequency.  “Light ‘Mechs blocking off retreat.  Requesting backup!”  There was no response.

               “Get your head out of your ass, kid!  LT’s coming, but we gotta hold these guys here!” Wolfgang shouted.  Marie saw his Commando coming up on her from one side, its armor smoking from earlier hits.  He slid past her and fired a spread of missiles at the Quickdraw.  He stayed in the trees as his much larger target returned fire.

               But they’re not trying to run… Marie thought as he disappeared in the crossfire.  “All right then…” she muttered.  She quickly looked over the displays.  Thomas was maneuvering to get a shot on the Quickdraw, which was half-turned away from him as it tried to target Wolf.  For his part, Bower was trudging towards Loaner, both Arbiters looking overheated. 

               “Bower, take cover!  You’re too exposed!” Marie ordered.

               “Nay, lassie!” Bower retorted.  “We’ve got tha bastards right where we want ‘em!  Time ter show ‘em what happens when they attack my home!”

 

 

               Punctuating this declaration he leveled his gun arm at the Wolverine and fired, the unnaturally loud report echoing in Marie’s cockpit.  To his credit he managed to hit the Wolverine, though the round just spanged off its armor.  The Wolverine barely even flinched at the attack, and turned to aim its PPC at Wolf.  The azure beam flashed, and Wolf’s left arm suddenly shortened, sliced off cleanly at the shoulder.  He tried to keep running, but the loss of the limb overbalanced him and he stumbled on the uneven ground, plowing face-first into the dirt. 

               The Wolverine immediately turned its attention back on Thomas, leaving the Quickdraw aimed at Wolf.  Marie called out to him and fired on the Quickdraw before rapidly falling back into the trees, trying to get some cover while keeping the heavier ‘Mech distracted.  Unfortunately the Quickdraw was rapidly bearing down on them both, peppering her with LRMs.

               “Bower, concentrate fire on the heavy!” Marie heard Thomas shout over the commline, his voice distorted by the ECM.  She saw Loaner’s cannon arm emerge from the smoke and steam from the Wolverine’s lasers.  Thomas’ Arbiter swayed on its feet with the recoil as he fired a round into the Quickdraw’s back.  The Quickdraw leaned with the impact and slowed its charge towards Marie.  She muttered a thanks to Thomas, briefly relieved at his diversion. 

               Her relief evaporated as the Quickdraw twisted its arms, turning them far beyond human limits to aim them behind itself.  It fired both arm lasers along with a pair of rear-mounted lasers, bullseyeing Thomas’ ‘Mech with frightening accuracy.  Fires burst to life inside of the borrowed Arbiter as the fusillade of lasers sliced through its armor. 

               Marie winced in sympathy at the hit, but barely had time to think as the Quickdraw’s arms flipped back to face forwards and it started moving towards her again.  Meanwhile the Wolverine launched a flight of SRMs into Thomas’ Mech, setting off explosions inside of it.  Marie couldn’t even take advantage of the Wolverine’s distraction killing her sergeant, as she watched the Javelin coming up to support the Quickdraw while Bower struggled to get a shot lined up on anything.

               The ground shook as another ‘Mech entered the fray.  Trees went tumbling as Hoshino’s Katamari appeared, running at the full speed provided by its massive fusion engine.  The pirate ‘Mechs started to turn towards this new threat, but too slowly.  The massive Charger lived up to its name, slamming shoulder-first into the Quickdraw.  The two ‘Mechs went stumbling backwards before crashing to the ground.

               Apparently unconcerned for its fallen comrade, the Wolverine turned towards the Blossom and leveled its weapons at her, only to abruptly stagger forwards –Caradin’s Raptor had looped around to flank the ‘Mech and shot a spread of missiles and lasers into its hindquarters.  By the time the Wolverine had turned to fire back, Fleetfoot had already faded into the woods, moving too quickly to follow.  The Wolverine pilot responded by kicking his ‘Mech into a run, keeping himself out of Fleetfoot’s sights while staying focused on the Blossom.  Marie fired at it, but her targeting system was still jammed and the Wolverine was moving far faster than the ‘Mech’s bulk suggested.  In the back of her mind she reasoned it must have an extralight engine or Myomer Acceleration circuitry, but she didn’t time to think about it.  Meanwhile the Javelin fired at her again, its missiles zipping through the trees and the rain to catch the Blossom’s left arm, shattering the armor there and seeking her internals.  Marie aimed at the Javelin and returned fire, missing but at least forcing the ‘Mech to keep its distance.

               She was sweating in the cockpit as her overtaxed heat sinks struggled to cool her off; firing the lasers over and over was threatening an emergency shutdown.  Meanwhile the Wolverine was fending off her, Bower, and Caradin with no regard for its own heat.  It was having trouble drawing a bead on them as all three of them were taking cover in the trees, but its armor was holding up against their attacks, and it was hard to get any counterattack lined up on it as it dashed around the clearing under cover of electronic scrambling.

               Marie risked a glance at the Quickdraw, guessing that machine was the cause of the ECM.  Its right side was smashed in, but its big missile launcher was still functional.  It planted its oversized feet into the ground and tried to stand up, but Hoshino’s ‘Mech wrapped its powerful arms around its leg and wrestled with it, forcing the Quickdraw off-balance again, neither ‘Mech immediately getting the upper hand.  Then she checked on Wolf, who was struggling to get up with only one arm, and finally looked over at Loaner, reduced to a burning hulk on one edge of the clearing.

               “New plan,” she muttered.  She slammed her feet down on the jump jet tabs.  The jets on the Blossom’s back fired, lifting her up on pillars of flame.  She aimed high and long, arcing around behind the Wolverine.  In response the Wolverine stopped its dash, skidding to a halt and whirling a hundred and eighty degrees to aim its guns up at her.  The lock-on alert blared in her cockpit.  Still, Marie smirked at the image of it on the viewscreen.

               “Bang, you’re dead,” she said to it.

               A cluster of laser beams stabbed out of the trees, lancing straight into the Wolverine’s back as Caradin’s Raptor reappeared.  The Wolverine turned to try aiming its PPC at him, but just ended up leaning straight into Wolf’s follow-up salvo as the wounded Commando finally got up on one knee and fired everything it had left at the Wolverine.  Marie came down from her jump, angling herself to land facing the Wolverine’s back, and opened fire on the weakened armor.

               It was only a matter of time before something important broke, and it came explosively the Blossom’s large laser set off the Wolverine’s stockpile of SRM ammo.  A glow of fire appeared inside the ‘Mech’s chest, suddenly blasting out in all directions as the storage failed and dozens of missiles exploded at once inside of it.  Half of the ‘Mech disappeared in a massive fireball.  After the fire cleared the ruined chassis was left sprawled on the ground, smoking and headless.

               Marie was momentarily distracted by a distraught shout she heard over the commline.  She looked over at Loaner to see the Arbiter imploding as the Javelin finished it off.  The Arbiter’s head burst open and an ejection seat burst out, shortly before its torso disappeared in an explosion of stored hydrogen fuel.  Nearby, the Katamari and the Quickdraw were continuing to wrestle.  Lasers fired in all directions as the ‘Mechs jockeyed for a shot on each other, but her sensors were coming back online, the ECM finally getting crushed under Hoshino’s pummeling. 

               She turned her attention to the Javelin, which looked like its pilot was just realizing its companions were both down.  Bower had moved to respond as well, but the Javelin was faster than the clumsy Arbiter.  His and Marie’s shots crisscrossed while the Javelin jumped into the air, leapfrogging over the clearing and trying to make a break for the woods. 

               “Fleetfoot, dealing with a harasser back here.  May need support,” Marie announced.

               “Forget him!  Eyes up, Blossom!” Caradin ordered.

               Marie checked her screens as the sensors came back up, tensing as she saw extra blips appearing.  The Vulcan from earlier had reappeared, and was looping around to link up with the Javelin.  Meanwhile, another blip was coming from the other direction.  Her eyes went wide as her targeting computer identified it.

               “Is that…” she whispered, and blinked several times.  The display stubbornly stayed the same.  “King Crab!” she shouted.  “Incoming now, heading 110!  Closing fast!”

               “Keep it down, girl!” Wolfgang snapped.  “Keep your head on or get out!”

               “Quiet!” Caradin ordered.  “Bower, hold position here and assist Katamari.  Wolf, get up!  You and I will engage the flankers.  Blossom, engage the new target!”

               “The…you want me to…” Marie stammered.  “Sir, are you kidding?”

               “You’ve got your orders, McCloud!” Caradin snapped at her.  “Do it!”

               She swallowed and fired another halfhearted blast at the Javelin, missing again as the smaller ‘Mech fell back.  She glanced at her displays again; Thomas’ ‘Mech was destroyed, and the rest of the Hussars had all taken some serious hits.  As if that wasn’t enough, the pirates were getting reinforcements.  It was all the Hussars could do to hold off the current wave of ‘Mechs, and now there was a hundred-tonner closing in on them.  Hadn’t Caradin been lecturing her about having an escape plan just a day ago?

               She looked back up to the viewscreens, her eyes picking out a break in the enemy line.  The King Crab and Quickdraw were over in one direction, with the Javelin and Vulcan in the other.  If the Hussars disengaged now, they could fall back between the enemy forces.  They could regroup and take stock of the situation, and present a united front against the pirates.

               “Sir, I have to protest!” Marie said.  “If we withdraw out this corridor – ”

               “No more backtalk!” Caradin snapped.  “What are you still doing there, Blossom?  Get moving!”

               Marie looked over to Bower, barely holding off the Javelin before and now having to deal with a Vulcan on top of it all.  His gun finally discharged, for all the good it did as the shell buried itself in the Javelin’s chest without breaking through.  A further protest died on her lips as she watched the display.  “Sorry,” she whispered to the image of Bower fighting on her screens, before she moved away from the combat. 

               She tried to put as many trees between herself and the enemy ‘Mechs as she could, even though she knew she was just jumping from one problem to a much, much bigger one.  The Javelin’s missiles could blast off big slabs of her armor.  A King Crab could shred the whole Blossom with one salvo.  It was a one-hundred-ton assault mech, a mountain of armor and weapons centered around a pair of giant autocannons that made any sane mechwarrior tremble in fear.  A middleweight skirmisher like the Blossom was barely even a speed bump to a ‘Mech like that.

               Her targeting computer fritzed, the icon of the big mech going staticky for a second before coalescing again.  “I know old girl, I don’t want to do this either,” she whispered to the Blossom.  “Let’s see if we can hold him off.  The rest of the lance will be with us in a minute, all right?”  She wasn’t sure if even Hoshino’s big assault mech would be much help, but his armor could at least take a couple solid hits before he was in trouble.  Unfortunately he was continuing to fight with the Quickdraw, though he appeared to be getting the upper hand as he bludgeoned the mech with his Charger’s knobby, club-like fist.

               She checked her status, seeing a lot of armor damage, but thankfully no breaches.  Her heat was high, but was slowly sinking as the Blossom’s heat sinks caught up.  Her heart climbed into her throat as she caught a brief glimpse of the hulking form of the King Crab off in the distance.  Again, her targeting computer glitched, as though unable to believe she was doing this.  Unfortunately the King Crab noticed her at the same time, and opened fire.

               Marie screamed as the beam of a large laser flashed over her, melting half a ton of armor off of her arm.  It was followed up with a spread of missiles that scattered all around her, not hitting but keeping her off-balance.  She turned the Blossom and started circling, firing her own large laser in the King Crab’s general direction even though she could barely even see it.  The King Crab was slow, so her best bet was to use her speed to keep it at long range.  She was still outgunned there, but she could at least survive a few hits from the ‘Mech’s long-range weapons.  Unless its big autocannons had been replaced with Gauss Rifles, in which case she was as good as dead already.

               Another laser lanced out at her, barely missing.  She considered falling back out of range and switching to AirMech mode to take flight, but she wasn’t sure she’d be able to get clear long enough to transform.  Instead she hit the jump jets, leaping over the trees as more missiles scattered through the wood, seeking her.  As she flew over the trees, she saw the King Crab’s broad, squat form, with its heavy claw-like arms held at the ready.  As her targeting gear fritzed again, her brow furrowed.

               “Wait a minute,” she muttered as she landed.  She turned the Blossom and started moving closer to the enemy ‘Mech.  Her heart raced even faster as the distance closed.  If she was wrong, she’d be dead in seconds.  On the other hand, if she was right…

               The laser shot at her again, carving a chunk out of her leg as the King Crab came back into view.  Marie’s eyes narrowed at the sight of it, and she moved even closer.  As she finally got a clean look at it, she saw something was off about the ‘Mech – it had the shape of a King Crab, but the details were all wrong.  The armor had extra seams in it, looking almost like a giant jigsaw puzzle.  The missile launcher on its shoulder was too boxy, looking almost like a jury-rigged job that had been tacked on as an afterthought.

               Her suspicions were confirmed a second later as her targeting computer beeped, processing the new sensor data and finally renaming the target.  The enemy ‘Mech’s icon on her display was refreshed: Chameleon.

               Marie groaned to herself.  She was all too familiar with Chameleons and their electronic tricks that let them copy the IFF signatures of other ‘Mechs.  That, plus how easy it was to attach extra panels to the outer hull to change its shape, earned the ‘Mech its name.  It was very useful for training rookie Mechwarriors.  Unfortunately, modern ‘Mech sensors could see through the smoke-and-mirrors disguise once they got a good look.

               “Fleetfoot, updating situation.  Target is a Chameleon.  Repeat, new target is a Chameleon.”

               “Was wondering when you were going to figure it out,” Wolfgang chuckled.

Marie would have shouted at him, but had her hands full as she came under fire again.  The Chameleon was half the size of a King Crab, but it still matched the Blossom’s weight, and the large laser on its arm was real enough.

               Having been imitating a King Crab, the Chameleon had been moving very slowly, which made it a very easy target.  Marie closed in and opened fire on it, scoring a few hits before the pilot realized his ruse was over.  The Blossom’s lasers carved through the fake panels and stabbed into the armor underneath.  The fake King Crab leveled its heavy arms at her and opened fire, but instead of heavy autocannon slugs, it fired a trio of lasers that slagged some of the Blossom’s armor but failed to hit anything important.  Marie smirked as she saw the Chameleon glow red-hot on her display.  She knew from experience that Chameleons were intentionally built without enough heat sinks for their weapons.  It was supposed to teach rookie mechwarriors about heat management.  It also made them unreliable in a fight.

               She continued to fire, and in moments her lasers were joined by the Katamari’s as Hoshino finally managed to break away from the Quickdraw.  Perhaps sensing its pending death, the Chameleon fired a salvo of missiles at the Katamari, scoring several solid hits but still failing to breach the assault mech’s heavy armor.  The counterattack from the Blossom and Katamari finished it off – the lasers and missiles coming from the duo struck into the mech’s core, breaching its fusion heart.  Safeties held and kept the reactor from going nuclear, but there was still an impressive explosion that ravaged the ‘Mech’s guts.  The last the fake panels around the Chameleon’s head fell away as it split open and the ejection seat launched out.

               “A strong fight!” Hoshino said to her.  “You have the heart of a warrior, young one.”

               “Thanks,” she sent back in relief before switching to the lance channel.  “Fleetfoot, target down.  Pilot is in the air.”

               “Roger,” Caradin said back.  “Hussars, form up!  This isn’t over yet.”

 

*End of Chapter 15*

 

Thanks for reading!

 

Battletech and Mechwarrior are the property of Catalyst Game Labs.

 

Rachel McCloud, the Bristol, Marie Rose (Sr.) and the Black Thorns are creations of James Long, who among other things wrote Main Event and DRT for the Battletech universe.

 

Image of the Arbiter facing off against the Wolverine comes from Cromwell300 on Twitter: @AndrewZ24597481

 

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Follow me @lucendacier on Twitter for story updates and the occasional BattleTech meme.

 

Audio version of this story is available at https://lucendacier.podbean.com/ , and on Apple podcasts.

 

Audio with images is available on Youtube, which also includes music I found out on the wilds of the Internet.