Zenith point, Donegal system
Donegal March,
The blackness of space was pierced by the sudden arrival of the massive Nightlord battleship. Almost immediately after the ship finished its post-jump operations, its huge thrusters roared to life, rocketing it towards the emerald green ball that was the fourth planet of this system: Donegal.
Donegal was a temperate world not too unlike Earth. Settled in the mid 23rd century, it was for a time a frontier outpost to the vast Lyran sector of space, a sort of interstellar
Its loss would be devastating to the Lyran economy. It was also within a single jump of the capital of Tharkad. With two swift strokes, the Jade Falcons could cripple the entire Lyran nation-state. They knew that, and so did Joshua.
He was sitting in the briefing room, glancing at a map of Donegal and trying to conjure up an effective defensive strategy. The doorbell rang. "Yes?"
Daisaku walked inside. "It’s time for dinner."
"I’m not eating. Sorry." Joshua did not glance up at his friend.
"You should eat." said Daisaku flatly. “You will need your strength for the days ahead.”
“Time is against us. I need to make sure Donegal is not a repeat of Garrison. If it means a few sleepless nights to cover every angle, every possibility, then so be it.”
“Sleep or no, you still need food. I’ll bring you back something, and some hot coffee.”
“Appreciated. Thanks.”
“Joshua,” said Daisaku kindly. “Don’t carry this burden alone.”
“Isaac, Matthew, and countless others died because I didn’t carry it before. I will not that mistake again.”
"Seat taken?" Lisa asked.
Daisaku mumbled through his full month and motioned for her to sit down.
"Where’s Joshua?" asked Lisa.
"Working." said Daisaku.
"He hasn’t left his ready room in days. He practically sleeps there."
Daisaku nodded. "Garrison changed him. He’s a lot grimmer than he used to be."
“’More sober’ is the phrase I’ve taken to using.” Said Lisa. “Your challenge to him, the distrust of Kou and the others, and his own regrets and grief have really shocked a sense of reality into him.”
“Garrison was a wakeup call for all of us.” Said Daisaku. “It took you to shake me out of my short-sightedness. To remind me that my fellow exiles are all that I have left of what once was.”
“Everyone’s been flying off the handle lately. It’s only been a month. It’s good that we have Juan. He really hit the nail on the head.”
“When he said we were all too young?” said Daisaku. “Yeah, I thought so too.” He glanced over Lisa’s shoulder to observe a group of people coming towards the two of them. “It seems we all need to do a bit of growing up.”
The new arrivals reached Lisa and she finally noticed their approach. “Oh, hi, Manuel, Miranda, join us.” She said.
Manuel and Miranda both saluted Daisaku. “We’re not interrupting anything, I trust?” asked Miranda.
“Not really.” Answered Daisaku. “I’m Daisaku Hayakusora, commander of 3rd Battalion. You must be Lisa’s sister.”
“Half-sister, technically.” Answered Miranda. “Miranda MacLeod-Sanchez, and this is my husband Manuel Sanchez. We both served with the 1st Regulars until transferring here.”
“Pleased to make your acquaintance.” Said Daisaku politely. “We’ve needed someone to keep Lisa in line with her husband so indisposed of late.” He teased.
“Yeah, where is he?”
“Working. Trying to come up with a perfect strategy to defeat the Clans when we next encounter them.”
“Doesn’t he already know there is no such thing? No battle plan survives enemy contact, as the old saying goes.”
“Joshua’s just a bit over concerned after the debacle at Garrison.” Said Lisa.
“I suppose I don’t blame him. Must be hard to have the burden of a unit of this size and quality on his shoulders at his age. Tasked with so great a responsibility.”
“It’s what we were born to do.” Said Daisaku proudly. “What we trained to do.”
“I take it then you are also one of the Periphery refugees?”
“We prefer the term ‘exile,’ but yes.”
“Lisa’s told me a bit of your story. Remarkable. Your people were wiped out by the Clans?”
“Only a handful of us survived. Some of us fell on Garrison. Joshua took that particularly hard.” Daisaku looked down. “We all did.”
Lisa nodded her head and was about to add to Daisaku’s comments when she was interrupted by yet another new arrival. She looked up to see Richard O’Malley standing at the other side of the table.
"May I also join you?"
"Certainly, Hauptmann." responded Miranda. "Richard, have you met my sister, Lisa."
"I have not.” He paused to salute. “Leftenant General, I am pleased to meet you."
Lisa made to stand up. "I have some things to do." She departed quickly.
"She doesn’t like me much, does she?" said Richard. “I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised by that, given what I’d heard about my brother and her.”
“Some topics are best left unsaid.” Said Daisaku with a tone of warning.
"So, Richard, how do you think our battalion is going to do?" asked Miranda, quickly working to change the subject.
"I suspect we’re going to be more ‘together,’ as it were, than the others. I presume you’ve already noticed the morale of the Star Swords has taken a bit of a beating?" commented Richard, sitting down.
"If the squabbling among the senior staff is any indication...." said Manuel. He cut his comments short with a glance at Daisaku.
"How is Juan Miranda?" asked Miranda. "You know him personally, don’t you?"
"Aye," answered Richard. "He and I go way back. He’s a top notch counter-intelligence operative and a fine mechwarrior." He paused. "Part of the job. As to his field command abilities, General Messer seems to have the utmost confidence in him. Sadly, I cannot vouch for his skills there, only to his integrity. I’ve noticed that he seems to take the role of wise mentor with the command staff, seeing as he is much older than most of them.” He looked over at Daisaku. “With respect, Kommandant.”
“That’s the truth of it. My fellow officers and I are young, General Messer included.” Daisaku sipped at his coffee.
"I’m just concerned because we’re the unit with something to prove.” Said Manuel. “Both 1st and 3rd Battalions have faced the Clans before. We have not."
"Our time will come." said Richard. "Personally, I cannot wait."
"How you coming?" she asked nonchalantly.
Joshua looked up and smiled at seeing her.
“I hope that smile means something more than that you’re just happy to see me. Not that I mind that.”
“It does.”
She moved closer, looking over the maps and battle plans Joshua was going over. He returned to them. "I think I’ve got something." replied Joshua. He handed her a few handwritten notes.
"Are you sure about this?" questioned Lisa as she read over his plan.
He nodded, pointing at a map of Marketplace, Donegal’s largest city. "These storage silos are made of a special material that is supposed to make them tougher and lighter. An inadvertent result of that is that they also diffuse radar and magnetic signals, making it near impossible for anyone to detect a hidden unit within them. We place the 24th Lyran Guard at positions outside the city, reinforced with our own units. After the Clan mechs have passed this point, we spring the trap and cut off their escape."
"You have 4th slated to spring the trap and 3rd reinforcing the Guard. What about 1st Battalion?"
"I’m holding you in reserve in the event something goes wrong, much as I did with 3rd on Garrison. It’s your turn now."
"Wouldn’t it be wiser to give the reserve duty to 4th Battalion? They’re the untried ones."
"Neg." said Joshua. "It’s because they are untried that I put them in. The same reason you gave 4th to Juan. They’ll pull it off. He’ll make them pull it off. I have total confidence in them.”
"I don’t like being taken out of the fight, but you do have a point."
“They’ll be plenty of Clanners to kill on the worlds after Donegal.”
“Alright, this looks solid. I’ll pass on the word to the others. Now, General,” she said his rank with authority. “you get some rest.”
“You can’t order me. I outrank you.”
“I am your wife. That rank trumps all others. Get some sleep. This is a good plan, a good ambush. You’ve done well.”
Inbound, Donegal system
Donegal March,
30 December 3051
Joshua obeyed his wife’s “orders” and got some sleep. The next morning, feeling refreshed, he made his way down to the gymnasium deck, determined to get some swordplay in. He reached the small gym on the starboard grav deck, only to find someone else there practicing as well.
Richard O’Malley turned and looked at him. "Good morning, General. I heard you had come down from the mountaintop."
“What’s that supposed to mean, Hauptmann?”
“I meant no disrespect. I simply likened your solitude to the ancient hermits who sat on mountaintops awaiting enlightenment. I trust you discovered a means to defeat our enemies.”
“We have a plan yes.” said Joshua flatly. He drew Anduril from its scabbard. He paused to watch as the Highlander returned to his routine. He recognized the moves as some of those Robert had used against him in their short duel on New Belfast.
"Did you teach your brother, or did he learn from the same teacher as you?" queried Joshua.
"Recognize the style? You have a sharp eye."
Joshua twirled Anduril about, stopping to take up an introductory stance. "I have a bit of skill with the blade. My people were taught it as part of our own training."
"It's not a common skill in this day and age. Most of us learn it as a hobby, since its use as a true skill of battle is long gone."
“A means of discipline, meditation, physical fitness.” Debated Joshua. “Many good reasons to retain the art.”
“I see you and I have this much in common at least.” Replied Richard. “Is this how you hope to kill my brother? Blade to blade in the ancient manner. That would not be wise."
"By whatever means." said Joshua flatly. "Now if you'll excuse me."
"Would you like a sparring partner?" asked Richard. “We could perhaps teach each other a thing or two.”
Joshua nodded and the two took up a sparing stance.
His defeats had soured his mood somewhat.
Joshua floated down to the elevator. He meant to go to his quarters, but changed his mind. He had not seen Lisa since her visit to his office the day before and he wondered where he might find her. Her sister’s quarters were his first stop.
He knocked at Miranda’s door lightly. The door slid open as Lisa floated out from the back room. "Good morning, Joshua." she said.
“Did you return to our quarters at all last night?”
“No, I left you to rest. I stayed with Miranda and Manuel. We were up a bit late reminiscing. Now, get your ass in here, as you have not been formally introduced.”
Joshua floated into the room as Miranda and Manuel joined them. Introductions were exchanged.
“Alright, General, I’ve heard Lisa’s version of the story. I want yours.”
“You don’t trust her to be honest?”
“No, guys are just less polite. I want all the juicy details. Does my sister measure up in bed?”
“Miranda!” exclaimed Lisa.
“Oh, please, don’t give me that prim and proper crap. I know you too well.”
Joshua had the feeling that he was faced with a devil’s choice. Silence or the truth would either one get him in trouble. But immediately, he was rescued by the sounding the Star Swords alert klaxons.
“All personnel. Condition: yellow. Clan jump signatures detected. This is not a drill. I repeat. Condition: yellow. This is not a drill.” Bark the PA system with Erik’s voice.
“Excuse
“Jump signatures detected at the nadir jump point. Deep radar confirms Clan
“Alright,
“Roughly 30 hours.”
“That’s cutting it tight. Let’s just hope they don’t sense our presence here or this is all for naught.”
Donegal
Donegal March, Federated Commonwealth
3 January 3052
"The planet reports Clan dropships are inbound. High G burn. They’ll make orbit in a few hours. Approximately 3 Union class. The enemy force has identified itself as the ‘Turkina Keshik.’" The communications tech looked up from his receiver at Joshua who hovered above him.
"Mechlanthon?" prompted Joshua of his Clan advisor. "What do you know of this unit? A Keshik is a Clan command unit, unless they’ve changed the nomenclature."
"Aff. It is saKhan Timur Malthus’s personal cluster. The very best of the Jade Falcon warrior caste."
Joshua
let a smile creep across his face. “Good.” He said. “Time to prove to everyone,
ourselves included, that the Star Swords are a force to be reckoned with.”
Hauptmann Tulkas Dudraug sat patiently and waited in his Crossbow. Surrounded by giant concrete storage silos, he felt dwarfed despite being within his mech. He kept switching his scanner mode around, but any radar-based detection form was scrambled by the odd material used in the Donegal concrete. He was almost as blind as his prey.
His eyes were the fifty or so miniature mechs sitting on top of those silos. General Messer had not used his captured elemental soldiers in either the battle for Twycross or Garrison. Now, they were a vital component in his ambush.
No radar meant no radio either, so any communication between Dudraug and his forces was impossible. They could only wait for the flare signal from the elemental leader. He did not like it. He did not trust the plan, his comrades, or those in command. He had been a squad commander in the Garrison militia, leading a mixed company of mechs and armor. His forces had been chopped to pieces by the Jade Falcons. He alone survived, only to be conscripted into the Star Swords upon their escape. He was given a new mech, for that at least he could be thankful, but he did not like the idea that he would be in the front line of the next battle.
Seismic sensors did work however, and Tulkas suddenly noticed a signal on that scanner mode. Lacking any form of pinpoint accuracy, the seismic sensor registered the presence of earth vibrations; a lot of them. A large group of BattleMechs was moving down the nearby interprovincial highway towards the city. The trap was soon to be sprung.
At the other end of that highway, about 10 kilometers west of the nearest suburb, stood the 24th Lyran Guard, supported by the Star Swords 3rd Battalion. Spared most of the devastating damage on Garrison, 3rd was fresh and ready for a fight. The 24th were less convinced and Joshua was worried of them breaking when the Keshik first struck.
The flat nature of the terrain made seeing your enemy at a great distance easy. Joshua glanced out and could see the Keshik passing the silos some 15 kilometers away, far out of range of any weapon mounted on their mechs. Although the 24th had a token amount of Star League technology, they were still woefully outclassed by the Clan force in firepower. Joshua hoped 3rd Battalion could make up the difference.
Unlike his comrades hidden within the silos, Joshua could use his radar and did so to check out the distance to the enemy. Timing would be important on this fight. The Keshik would have to react to the ambush before he could order his force forward.
The Keshik crossed the line.
Within the silos, Tulkas saw the flare go off. He marched his Crossbow forward, out into the open. His mech thumped as the elementals dropped down from their perch to land on his mech. At his side, Juan Miranda’s Thor and Richard O’Malley’s CES-3R Caesar also took on passengers and headed towards the enemy force.
Tulkas ran full speed towards the Clan mechs, who were slowing and turning to face the ambushers. Beside him, Richard O’Malley pushed his new Caesar to top speed as well, dropping the crosshairs of his gauss rifle and PPC onto a Clan Ryoken. He fired. The ball lightning of the PPC shot slammed into the medium mech, seeming to dance across the its armor. An ugly wound formed at the point of impact, showing a molten metal scar. The gauss shell landed a second later, spinning the already disoriented mech about.
Tulkas dropped both crosshairs of his mech onto a Keshik Vulture and fired. Forty long range missiles streamed out of the mech’s twin launchers. Small explosions appeared as the missiles struck home, blasting away armor. Only a small handful missed their target. The mauled Vulture took two awkward steps forward, only to take a final finishing PPC blast from Juan’s Thor.
Richard had closed enough with his opponent for his elementals to deploy. They jetted off of his mech, causing a slight tremble as the 70-ton mech shifted weight. Richard ignored it, dropping the crosshairs of his torso mounted lasers and PPC onto the already battered Ryoken. He fired all three weapons, ignoring the heat spike. Laser beams danced across the Ryoken’s lower torso, before being joined by another ball of lightning. Striking at the mech’s waist, the PPC bolt seemed to disembowel the Falcon mech. It tipped forward, just as Richard rushed it. Swinging his fist with a low uppercut, he caught the Ryoken under the chin, knocking it back upright and ripping its head from its torso. The dead Clan mech fell over onto its back.
"Impressive display, Richard." complimented Juan.
"A mech has fists for a reason." responded O’Malley.
Fourth Battalion’s ambush went off without a hitch. Ordered to rush the Falcon flank, they had struck home when the Falcon mechs had least expected it. Now it was time to close the trap. "All forces advance at flank speed and engage the enemy at close range." ordered Joshua, bringing Galileo II up to top speed.
A PPC bolt shot past Joshua’s mech to connect with Mike Koren’s Black Hawk.
"First blood!" snapped Mike in response. Here on the battlefield, whatever animosity shared between Mike and Joshua faded to the chance at payback on the Falcons. Ten beams of emerald light flashed from the arms of the squat mech. Nearly all connected with a Turkina Keshik Loki which had turned to face the new threat. Lightly armored, the Loki seemed to be stabbed by 8 arrows of sunlight as the lasers connected. It spun about from a melted gyro and crashed into the earth. Joshua noticed Mike slow considerably as his overtaxed heat sinks began shutting down his mech’s systems.
"Nice shooting." complemented Joshua.
“That one was for Isaac and Matthew.” Said Mike grimly. It only took Mike a few seconds to get his mech’s heat back down to reasonable levels. "Let’s rock." he said as he brought his machine back up to flank speed.
A 35 ton Puma moved to intercept them. Joshua dropped the crosshair of his gauss rifle onto the mech and fired. When that didn’t put the light mech down, he followed up with a burst of lasers, crippling the Falcon mech. He resisted the urge to step on the downed machine as he ran past.
A Lyran Guard Archer belched out 40 long range missiles into a pack of four Ullers, the rest of the Puma’s star. The Swarm warhead missiles exploded in mid-air, scattering hundreds of sub-munitions across the four mechs. The tiny magnetic explosives attached themselves to the Ullers and detonated, blowing all four light mechs to scrap within seconds.
In five minutes of fighting, the Turkina Keshik had lost 10 mechs. The Swords losses were heavy, with 8 mechs out of action from the Keshik’s withering counterattack, but even a 1 to 1 ratio would put the Swords the victors. The Clan mechs had scattered among the Swords and Lyran mechs in a huge chaotic fray. Joshua took advantage of it to join up his command lance with Juan Miranda’s.
"I need some help here!" cried Daisaku over the radio. Joshua looked down at his tactical monitor. He saw Daisaku’s forces being hit by a group of heavy and assault mechs. His light fast machines were no match for those monsters in a stand up fight. Joshua and Juan moved their two lances to assist. Joshua slammed his feet down on the pedals pulling ahead.
“Not again!” he thought. “Not this time!”
A massive Daishi led the force attacking Daisaku. Daisaku’s own mech was down, a leg shot out from under him. The Daishi was closing with him for the kill.
At full speed, Joshua slammed Galileo II into the side of the massive 100 ton mech. The impact knocked him back as if he’d struck a brick wall. But the charge did as he hoped. The Daishi was knocked off course from finishing Daisaku’s crippled Uller.
“Fight me, you son-of-a-bitch!” snarled Joshua over widebeam. He quickly recovered from the impact and ran across the Daishi’s path. He fired a gauss shell into its left leg. The Daishi, still somewhat dazed from the impact, staggered and tried to bring its arsenal to bear on Joshua, but Joshua darted his fast mech behind a rock outcropping and out of sight of the Daishi. But now he was exposed to the others of the Daishi’s star: two Thors, a Loki, and a feared Mad Cat.
The Mad Cat lanced a pair of heavy lasers at Joshua. Joshua brought his machine up to speed again as the beams carved two ugly gashes in his lower torso and upper legs. He was badly outmatched.
“At least I’ll take some of you with me.” He cycled through with his scanners to each mech in turn. Daisaku’s lance had given as good as they got and Joshua quickly assessed the Loki as the most damaged foe. He dropped the reticule of his gauss rifle onto the Loki and fired. The massive gauss slug slammed home in the Loki’s battered right leg, blowing the leg off mid-thigh. The mech pitched forward and exploded on impact, the fall detonating one of the mech’s many ammo stores.
Angered at seeing one of their own drop, the Thors closed the gap while the Mad Cat opened up with its twin LRM racks. Behind him, Joshua could see the Daishi return to the fight. Running at full speed, he tried to keep ahead of the enemy machines, but he was only marginally faster than they and he could not widen the distance between them fast enough.
LRMs rained down on Galileo II as he brought his machine back around. If he could not run away, he’d fight them toe-to-toe, despite the odds. Behind the mechs chasing him, he could see Miranda MacLeod’s company move up to reinforce Daisaku’s forces.
Manuel and Miranda paired up to tackle a group of Vulture’s. A twin PPC blast from Manuel’s Warhammer IIc had left one Vulture badly damaged. Miranda had hammered hers, but had failed to notice a Keshik Masakari move up behind her. It held its fire against her, choosing instead to blast at one of the light mechs of Daisaku’s command lance, a Dasher. Manuel spotted the Masakari and prepared to engage it. He fired another blast of his PPCs paired with his LRMs into the Vulture to finish it. As he turned, a Falcon Man O’War gave his mech a body check and moved past him.
The running charge had knocked the Warhammer off-balance. Manuel tried to keep the mech upright, but it toppled over like a set of baby blocks. Miranda’s Hellhound moved across the path of the Masakari. Miranda turned to pursue her Vulture, and in doing so, exposed her to the 85 ton monster.
The Masakari let loose with all four large pulse lasers. The beams scythed across Miranda’s medium mech, carving four huge furrows in her armor. So ravaged, the small mech crashed over on its back, fire and smoke belching out from its wounds.
Manuel tried to stand, only to get knocked off balance again by an autocannon burst from the Man O’War. These guys were tough!
Nearby, Mike Koren and Tulkas had teamed up to hammer down their opponents. They finished off their current target, a Mad Cat, when Mike paused to scan the battlefield. He noticed the ruins of Jade Falcon mechs everywhere. The odds had begun to shift. Only a handful of Star Sword mechs littered the battlefield and those looked repairable. The rest of the ruined machines all bore the insignia of the Turkina Keshik.
"This is going well." Mike said to himself. Then he noticed Joshua.
Taking fire from four mechs much larger than his own had ravaged Joshua’s armor. But he was still in the fight, blasting away with laser and gauss rifle.
“My God, what is the fool thinking?” thought Mike. “Hauptmann Dudraug, General Messer is in trouble. Going to assist." He barked into his headset.
"I am almost out of missile loads.” Came the reply. “Is there another to assist you?"
Mike brought his machine up to speed. It was him or no one.
Joshua dashed across the front of the Mad Cat as Mike leveled his laser reticule on the
The Mad Cat got the message and moved to engage Mike. But Joshua still had the Daishi and the two Thors chasing him down.
“Time to even the odds!” Thought Joshua. He engaged Galileo II’s advanced targeting computer and was grateful to see the targeting telemetry come up on his HUD. Despite his machine’s massive armor damage, everything was still working. “Not sure how, but I’ll take it.” He programmed the computer to lock onto the Daishi’s damaged arm.
Lasers lanced out, followed by the slower gauss slug. All struck home just above the massive mech’s elbow, blowing the arm clean off. That halved the Daishi’s firepower. Recognizing the Daishi’s damage, one of the Thor’s moved to intervene.
Joshua heard the thumping sound as another gauss shell slid into place inside the weapon’s firing chamber. He spun his mech at the hip and fired the gauss again. The shot was high and slammed home just above the mech’s sternum, tearing through the Thor’s cockpit and killing the pilot instantly.
The Daishi opened up, lasers and autocannon ravaged through Galileo II. Joshua’s luck just ran out as his machine registered critical damage to a dozen systems. Then his leg snapped and the mech pitched backward into the dirt.
The
impact slammed Joshua backwards against his seat hard. Stars filled his eyes
and he fought to remain conscious as the Daishi moved in for the kill. Without
thinking, he stabbed down on the laser firing stud and saw two azure beams
lance out into the front of the Daishi. The Daishi pitched forward into the
dirt, a huge hole where its own cockpit once was. It was the last thing Joshua
remembered before darkness took him.
The battle did not last much longer. Ravaged by the Star Swords, and now leaderless with the death of Khan Malthus in his Daishi, the Clan forces began to withdraw to regroup. Although his mech was largely out of the fight, Daisaku could see what was transpiring.
"Acting Clan commander,” he said into his headset over a widebeam channel. “This is Kommandant Daisaku Hayakusora of the 1st Star Swords. You are beaten. I offer you hegira. What say you?" It was a risk, something Joshua might have done. But revealing his own Clan origins might be worth it if he could bring the battle to a close now.
Almost without hesitation, "The offer is accepted.” Said the weary voice of a Clan mechwarrior. “All Keshik forces withdraw.”
Daisaku barked an order to the Swords. “All Lyran forces, stand down. They’re withdrawing.” He then tossed down his headset, praying the Lyran’s would obey the odd order not to pursue. He pulled himself out of his battered mech’s cockpit and dashed towards the smoking remnants of Galileo II.
“Joshua!” he cried as he ran up to the mech, too anxious and concerned to be out of breath from the nearly 1 kilometer run. “Joshua!” He started to climb up towards the machine’s cockpit.
Mike Koren’s battered but still moving Black Hawk closed the distance to Galileo II. Daisaku reached the cockpit and tried to force it open.
Mike disembarked from his own machine and ran over. He climbed up and opened up the emergency release panel. The cockpit slid open as he slammed down on the button. “Is he?”
Daisaku pulled the unconscious Joshua out and got his neurohelmet off. Joshua’s face and head were covered in blood and he was not moving.
“My God, is he?”
As if on
cue, Joshua’s arm came up and he let out an agonized groan. Mike still had his
communicator headset on and he barked into it. “Medic team to these
coordinates. General Messer is down.”
Nearby a similar scene was playing out. Juan and Richard were trying to get to Miranda and Manuel’s mauled mechs.
"Richard, get a medical team here pronto." Barked Juan. Without looking back, he ran over to where Manuel’s Warhammer was lying on its back with a Falcon Vulture lying across his chest.
"Aye." Said Richard, who in turn ran to get help.
Juan squeezed through the wreckages to stand on Manuel’s Warhammer. Fire and smoke spouted from a massive hole in the machine’s right torso. Juan could see Miranda was several meters further up on the surface of the mech.
"Miranda, she’s going to blow!" screamed Juan. That fire was no doubt very near to the Warhammer’s LRM storage bay. Even with CASE panels to channel the explosion, the blast would kill the two of them when it occurred.
"I can’t leave him. He’s trapped." Her voice was desperate.
"You’ll need help getting him out of there." called Juan, running towards her. Miranda reached the cockpit and tried to open the hatch automatically. As with Joshua’s mech, that didn’t work; the cockpit was sealed. Juan reached her. He drew his sword and tried to use it to pry open the hatch.
"It’s no use." said Juan. "My blade isn’t strong enough." As if on cue, the blade snapped a second later.
"We have to get him out of there. He’s dying!" cried Miranda.
“There’s no time.” Juan grabbed her and yanked her away. The mech shuddered as Juan threw the two of them off the side of the massive machine.
The LRM stores detonated a second later. A huge gout of flame shot from the open wound on the mech’s chest as well as blasting out the CASE panels in the back of the mech. The aftward explosion lifted the mech into the air a few meters before its weight dropped it back onto the earth. That upward motion knocked the Vulture off of it and the ground shook as the 60 ton machine slid to the earth. Fire consumed the Warhammer, burning anything and everything flammable within its core. The heat was too intense for the newly arrived medics to get close.
Mechlanthon’s Grendel marched up to the scene. With haste, he used his mech’s great strength to push away the wreckage of the Vulture, only to discover a shaken Miranda and Juan beneath. The heat and flames would soon consume them, so Mechlanthon quickly scooped them up in his mech’s hands and pulled them to safety.
The Grendel knelt and lowered the wounded pair to the ground, where the medics immediately dashed in. As the medics swarmed about her, all Miranda could do was watch as her husband’s machine burned.
"Data from all fronts shows the Clans in full retreat." Said Daisaku.
"Losses?"
"Twenty mechs,” said Daisaku. “Ten dead. Many wounded.”
“Joshua?”
“That fall in Galileo II nearly split his skull in two, as I understand it. We won’t know anything for a while.”
Erik shook his head to clear his thoughts. “Mech repair status?"
"Eight of those machines will never fight again." said Daisaku. “But we did recover some substantial salvage from the Keshik.”
“This victory came at high cost."
“It was not another Garrison though. Our losses were much lower than the Clan forces. Our best estimates have their losses at thirty to thirty-five machines, nearly three-quarters their number. That, and Joshua killed Khan Malthus. We were bloodied, but we kicked ass. Joshua’s plan worked like a charm.”
“He may not live to celebrate that.” Said Erik grimly.
Donegal
Donegal March, Federated Commonwealth
17 January 3052
“How is he?” asked Erik as he walked up.
“The doctors are keeping him sedated.” Said Lisa. She had been keeping vigil by Joshua’s bedside in the medical bay of the Star Sword. “According to them, his prognosis is good. They had some concerns about our transferring him to care aboard the Star Sword…”
“No way would Joshua want to be left behind, no matter his injuries. Any idea when they’re going to bring him out of that coma?”
“Soon. His last scans showed good progress. No permanent brain damage from his head wound and the swelling is going down.”
"Excellent. Always knew he was a tough S.O.B.” Erik smiled. “On another note, I have received word from Comstar that Operation: Counterstrike has begun. Nine regiments have launched attacks on four separate Falcon worlds. So far only one has been found to contain any sizable resistance. Counterstrike forces have consistently outnumbered their opponents by factors of four-to-one or greater."
"Regiments versus trinaries?" replied Lisa .
"Aff. As the
“Which means most of their army is standing between us and New Belfast.” Lamented Lisa.
“Perhaps. I’ve gotten the plans for Wave Three of the assaults, scheduled to begin in April. They are rather daring. A deep assault through the core of the Falcon Occupation Zone. Five worlds: Parakolla, Apolakkia, Evcilier, Denizli, and New Belfast. Should link Twycross with the rest of the Commonwealth and cut the Falcon Occupation Zone cleanly in two. No way they’ll allow that to stand. They’ll have to backtrack and this time we’ll be ready for them.”
Lisa smiled. “Daring, bold, risky.” She commented. “But this time coming from High Command. Seems they’ve been infected with Joshua’s enthusiasm.”
“As has the rest of the unit. That’s the other good news. Kou and the others who were complaining have come 180° from before. Joshua’s willingness to put his own life in danger to save Daisaku was noted by the others. No more talk of his selfishness or his recklessness.”
Lisa’s smile weakened. “It nearly cost him his life to regain their trust.”
"Spirits are higher than they have been in a long time. Our mechs require repair and a few of the wounded are still recovering, but honestly, I think the Swords would follow him into hell itself if Joshua led them there.”
Donegal March, Federated Commonwealth
28 January 3052
Lisa opened the door to Joshua’s medbay room and walked inside. She’d now been in this room what felt like a thousand times and had spent some effort to make it feel a bit more like “home,” bringing pictures and affectations from their personal quarters into it to decorate. Now she brought a box to begin carrying them back out, as Joshua was awake and nearly ready to return to duty.
“I appreciate that you did all this.” He said to her, sitting up in his bed. “It makes this place feel nice and warm, not sterile and clinical.”
“You were here a long time. They kept you in an induced coma for nearly three weeks while your head injury healed. With me visiting every day when off-duty, I just I needed to make this place a bit friendlier.” She started to pick up the photographs and place them in the box.
“Most of those were of people you didn’t know.”
“I presumed they were people from your past. Family, friends from New Vision.”
“Why decorate a room with my pictures when I was unconscious and unable to appreciate it.”
“I guess I wanted you to wake up to some familiar faces. Besides, these have been in our quarters for months now. Even though I never met many of these, I’ve gotten used to seeing them.”
“You’ve never asked me who they were."
“This is your past, your home. I never felt the need to inquire. These are from a part of your life I’m not part of.” She picked up a picture of Gwen and paused to look at it.
“You’ve never asked, but you do know who that is, don’t you?”
“Yeah. She was beautiful, but her eyes were so sad.”
“Like yours.” Observed Joshua.
She stopped. “How many times am I going to go through this?”
“Through what?”
“Nearly losing you. First Chateau, then your duel with O’Malley, now this. God knows what else to come. One of these times, it won’t be a near miss.” She went back to her cleaning in an effort to distract herself. “I’d die without you.”
“No, you wouldn’t. You’re stronger than that.” He replied. Lisa’s eyes flashed in anger at his response.
“Oh, don’t get angry.” Said Joshua boldly. “We are warriors and as we’ve learned on New Belfast and Garrison, Donegal and countless worlds to come, this is not a bloodless life. You could lose me and I could lose you. That’s the price we pay for choosing this path. Don’t dwell on that, Lisa. Let’s be thankful for the time we do have.”
“Thankful I may be, but I will always worry. And if by my life, I can save you, I will.”
Next Chapter
