"No way it's that easy, no way," Cadet Zack Windham muttered as he monitored the Mobile HQ's directional microphone.

"I don't see why not," Lieutenant Lyons responded, her tone carrying just a tone of self-satisfaction. "We had a good plan, and the Green Knights executed it well."

"Yeah, but you'd think they'd put up more of a fight, y'know?" Windham insisted. "Some kind of big boom, maybe the crash and bang of a suicide attack, I dunno. Just something."

While the Mobile HQ boasted an impressive sensor suite and comms equipment, the nature of the mission meant they were currently on 'silent running.' Using any of their active sensors could potentially give away their position to the enemy, leaving them defenseless. And while the robust TharHes HQ CommSet could send a transmission powerful enough to penetrate the Green Knights' ECM field if they needed to contact them, doing so would give away the Knights' position, potentially giving away the entire mission. For the moment, they had to rely on their passive sensors, such as the external directional microphones and seismic sensors, to vaguely piece together what was going on.

And right now, it appeared that the battle had reached a rather anti-climactic conclusion. For most, a quick and easy victory would be an enormous relief. The excitable Zack Windham, however, was hoping for something a bit more dramatic.

"Oh sure, Windy," Cadet Marcus Higgins rolled his eyes, "'cuz everyone knows combat happens exactly like it does in the holos. Any minute now, the Bounty Hunter is going to roll up in his Marauder and start blasting everyone."

"The Bounty Hunter wouldn't be working on a defensive contract," the young, slightly pudgy crewman scoffed. "Everyone knows he only does assassinations of high-ranking Mechwarriors."

Higgins started to chuckle, while Lyons gave Windham a scornful look.

"The Bounty Hunter isn't real, Windham," she said with a lecturing tone. "Any more than the Vandenberg White Wings or the Minnesota Tribe."

"He is so real!" Windham exclaimed. "How else do you explain the Black Widow Company nearly getting wiped out on LeBlanc?"

"Oh, I dunno, maybe because the Black Widow Company isn't nearly as good as everyone says they are, and everyone just puts Natasha Kerensky on a pedestal because they think she's hot?"

"Pfffft, I'd like to see you rack up her kill count," Windham said, glancing at the rather salacious pin-up poster of the infamous Mechwarrior taped to the wall over his station.

"She's never going to do you, bro," Higgins mocked him.

"Screw off," Windham scowled.

"Seismics are reading s--"

"You're seriously trying to white-knight for an overrated stripper that Jaime Wolf parades around as a recruitment piece?" Higgins talked over Lyons. "You know all those 'tales of the Black Widow Company' holos aren't anything like what they actually do, right?"

"Guys, there's some--"

"I'm not talking about the holos," Windham said indignantly. "Unlike you, I've actually read the reports from the Marik Civil War, and from the Battle of Misery. Yeah, I've got the holos, but I also do my homework on the real deal!"

"Because you're a fanboy."

"Guys--"

"I'm an enthusiast of the profession, and I like to follow whoever happens to be the best at it."

"Guys--"

"Sorry, I stand corrected. You're a stalker."

"Oh gods of space, will you SHUT THE HELL UP!" Lyons finally burst out at her cadets. "I've been trying to say, seismic sensors are picking up enemy movement in Sector G-10!"

Colonel Wayne, having tuned out the constant bickering from the crewmates the other Knights affectionately referred to as 'the GDK'-- or "those God-Damned Kids," as the Colonel had once been caught muttering-- sat up in his command couch.

"What kind of movement, Lieutenant?"

"It's hard to pick out exact signatures from this range," Lyons admitted, "But it's definitely Battlemech footsteps. There's a lot of fuzz in the readings, but given the size of the tremors, I'm estimating the total tonnage to be, ah.....in the ballpark of 200 tons, total."

"...shit," Windham said breathlessly. That was likely an entire lance of Crimson Fists. The Green Knights did have them out-massed, but with ammunition supplies running low and critical mission objectives to protect, this wasn't a fight they could afford right now.

"Hey, you wanted a big dramatic twist," Higgins chided him.

"Can you determine their movement?" Colonel Wayne asked. "Are they on an intercept route?"

"Determining that now, sir," Lyons answered, frantically writing down calculations based on the strength of the seismic signals over time. "Ahhh, looks like.....negative, sir. The Fists are heading north-by-northeast, likely just on patrol on their way back to Balya Gora. It's possible they'll just pass right by us."

"Assuming they don't get alerted that the comms from Outpost F-10 have gone down,"

"How long until the Fists are too far away to intercept?"

"At their current speed and heading? Looks like....approximately ten minutes, sir."

"And how long is our estimated window before the Espian Guard are tipped off to the outpost going down?"

"....about the same, sir."

Colonel Wayne carefully weighed his options. If they broke silence to warn the Green Knights, they'd give away their own position, and they'd almost certainly be killed. If they remained quiet, there was a chance the Crimson Fists would miss them completely, or that they'd turn to attack and the Knights would have no way of knowing.

"Keep monitoring their position," Gaius ordered. "I want to know exactly where the Fists are heading at all times. Windham, if they start heading towards F-10, I want you to send a microwave burst signal to warn the Knights of incoming contacts. The plan remains the same; we head for the box canyons in sector E-8 and try to lose them. Higgins, how's the weather?"

"The weather, sir?"

"You heard me, Cadet," the Colonel stated flatly.

"Err, still overcast, sir," Higgins answered, flipping tabs on his monitor until he found the weather radar. "There's a major storm cell heading through G-9 right now, looks like it'll be moving through F-9 within the next thirty minutes."

"Good," Colonel Wayne nodded. "The cloud cover will keep air assets from being able to spot us, unless they start flying low enough to be within range of the Knights' weapons. If we get spotted, we can head into the storm cell."

"Visibility will be near zero in that storm, sir," Windham pointed out.

"For us, and for the Fists," Wayne countered. "If we get lucky, we can slip away in the rain. If not, we can hammer them up close while the convoy makes for the canyons."

"Sir, that fuzz on the readings has cleared up," Lyons interrupted. "I'm getting more accurate readings now."

The Colonel turned towards her. "What are we looking at?"

Lyons' skin began to pale as she looked at her readings. "Four Battlemechs, three of them thirty-five-tonners.....and one eighty-five-tonner."

Silence hung in the cabin of the Mobile HQ for a moment. The light 'Mechs were bad news, but an Assault 'Mech on the field could be catastrophic. Gaius knew the Crimson Fists had at least one 'Mech in the 85-ton range: a Battlemaster like the one he used to pilot himself. That 'Mech was an absolute terror in close range, but if they could keep their distance, it wouldn't be able to bring the brunt of its weapons to bear. If it wasn't the Battlemaster, though, then he had some very serious questions about where the Crimson Fists were getting the kind of money to field that kind of firepower...

As he considered the next course of action, something else Lyons had mentioned stuck out in his mind.

"That 'fuzz' on the earlier seismic readings," he said, "What could have caused it?"

Lyons shrugged. "Any number of things, sir. It could have been a quirk of the terrain, maybe an aberrant fault line, or something else causing vibrations on the ground like...." her eyes widened, "...like the beating of helicopter blades."

---

"Outpost F-10, this is Miaodao One, checking in," the pilot of a Warrior H-7 Attack Helicopter droned into his radio to the nearby supply outpost, "Repeat, Outpost F-10, this is Miaodao One, checking in. We're not seeing your transponder on our network, is everything all right over there? Over."

After a few seconds without reply, the helicopter pilot repeated his message. Again, the outpost did not respond.

Inside the cockpit, the pilot frowned, then switched his comms to a different channel.

"Fire Witch One, this is Miaodao One," he stated, a bit of trepidation in his voice. "The supply outpost at F-10 has gone dark. Requesting a flyover to check on the situation? Over."

After a few moments of tense silence, a deep, low voice, clearly masked through an electronic voice modulator, responded.

"Miaodao One, this is Fire Witch One," the synthesized voice boomed in his headset. "You have permission to perform a flyover, but be quick about it. Our quarry is likely in the area, and I do not wish to waste more time hunting them than necessary. Make your pass, then return to me, and report anything out of the ordinary."

"Roger that, Fire Witch One," Miaodao One acknowledged, before switching to his squadron's channel. "Miaodao Two, Miaodao Three, we're breaking off for Sector F-10. Follow my mark. Anything looks suspicious, we radio it in to Fire Witch Lance, then we open fire, copy?"

"Copy that, Miaodao One," "Copy that, Miaodao One," came the answers from his wingmates.

"Transmitting new coordinates now," the squadron leader said. "Estimated time to Outpost F-10, five minutes...."

Raven Rivers

Distasteful, Raven thought as he glimpsed the burnt tank and its crew's remains, but suppressed his disgust at Arroxy in order to keep to the battleplan; despite being assholes, the man and his tank crew were still siblings-in-arms. Then at Marit's call, he continued, "Sure, I'll help pick up a few containers -"

His mech's passive sensors picked up a new threat, and Raven's Shadow Hawk turned to see, as a speck in the sky, two gunships flying closer to their location. These helicopters ought to be catching sight of them soon, and picking up the ECM being projected... If he ever gave them the chance.

"Family Man here; picking up hostiles," Raven was already aiming his remaining LRMs and his autocannon at the helicopters, deciding that a bit of heat in his cockpit was a fair price to pay for bringing the pair of gunships down without inconviniencing the rest of the group. "You guys keep picking up the supplies; I request to be the one to deal with these bozos."

One LRM volley for one helicopter, and an autocannon for the other. I just hope I don't catch heatstroke from this. There was no doubt he can do this; he had just woken up one day and found out that a decade or so of mercenary work and years of being a Mechwarrior before that had given him the required experience to shoot down a couple of flying targets... Especially if he waited for the last possible moment.

He was no glory hound, but for a battle which had no notable moments, Raven at least wanted one memorable action, preferably a personal success.

Something for you and Andrew once we rescue you, Katrina, he thought himself one second before the crucial moment.

Five missiles blasted towards one gunship, an autocannon burst towards the other. As Raven's cockpit grew hot enough to turn into an oven, overwhelming his cooling vest, the man, no longer young, smirked and waited for the sight of smoked helicopters on the ground...

---

Ziska frowned, what had been a wildly successful mission, was now verging on a disaster. Recon flights. Always recon flights. It occurred her for not the first time in her career as a professional mercenary, that air power was sorely underrated. Once, just once, she dreamed of fighting in the military command grown fat with BattleMechs, Combat Vehicles, and Aerospace fighters. She was tired of fighting on the losing side. She was tired of fighting on the poor side. She was tired of not having a lance of Assault BattleMechs ready to hot drop onto an enemy forces at a moment's notice.

Next life, maybe, she thought, not quite managing to smile. Maybe the Colonel could swing them a juicy Steiner contract. If they made it. It if they made it out of the battle. If they made it off planet. She'd always wanted to pilot an Assault Mech. Or steal one.

"Orders, Lance Leader?" Ziska said, fighting her natural inclination to react without hesitating, without overthinking, and without slowing down. Run or fight. Run or fight. Those were always the options. She preferred running, at least given the supplies they had just liberated, but they'd have to buy time for the transports. And they'd have to buy time for themselves. They needed to regroup, they needed to reorganize, and they needed to move. Together and fast. Souped up ECM would only do so much. All it took was one enemy aircraft to make it beyond the bubble, to get lucky, to send out a last desperate message. Even then, the happy times were over. Three dead VTOLs wouldn't go unnoticed. It wasn't going to be missed for very long that something was very, very wrong at Outpost F-10, no matter what they did now.

Time was running out.

Ziska took stock. Her BattleMech was undamaged. The Guardian ECM was operating within expected parameters. Her cockpit was cool again, well cooler. Her SRM ammo count was still adequate, she hadn't had to waste any missiles on the enemy combat vehicles guarding the outpost. The rest of the Green Knights had been quick and brutal enough. Burnt ozone still lingered. The clean, pungent smell kicked off by her medium lasers as they scorched the air and then the armor of the enemy combat vehicles before the NPRDE troopers were bathed in fire and shrapnel.

The short battle for the outpost, if it could be called that, had been a slaughter. The best sort of battle, provided you were on the winning side, in Ziska's view. She had no interest in fair fights. It was why the incoming VTOLs offended her. It was why their mere existence rankled her. Now it might be their turn. Their turn to die outnumbered and outgunned. Their turn to burn. And their turn to curse their bad luck.

Recon meant more baddies.

More baddies meant more problems.

More problems meant more problems.

And they were short of ammo, armor, and more than a couple of pilots for more problems.

Location:
Western Continent, Espia
NPDRE Outpost F-10
Date/Time:
18 April, 3030/0500 Hours
Interactions:
The Whole Crew vs. NPDRE Outpost
Gear:
SERE Kit- Tarak keeps a SERE(Survival Evasion Resistnace Escape) kit inside his cockpit incase he needs to eject and survive in the wilderness on his own for some time, he has a black hard polymer pack filled with MREs to last him a few days, a broken down Semi-automatic carbine with one 20 round magazine, a flash light, a canteen filled with 1L of water, a knife, a trauma kit to stabilize wounds and set broken bones, and a collapsible spade within it. This kit is attached to his seat to keep it from flying about and possibly causing damage while within the cockpit.

Combat gear- a white and grey camo clothing, a cooling vest able to take small arms fire and regulates his body temperature to allow for higher survivability inside and outside the cockpit, a pair of gloves, his boots, some light armoring across his body to more easily take impacts and dampen blows, and his Neurohelmet. He has a suppressed hand gun with one 20 round magazine holstered on his left leg, and on his right leg he has his Personal Cassette Player which has his "Flower's Favorites" cassette in it.

---

As Black Pheonix made its rush across firing lines, rounds flew by as its speed made most of the defense force miss their shots. As once Tarak felt the round fly by he began picking off shots with his laser weapons, melting many of the static arms quickly as he continued his maneuver. Once the rounds finally quieted down, Black Pheonix made its way around and assisted with clearing the last probable defenses. After which he made his way to the front gates where he saw the Buckshot boys were doing what they do best, scaring the shit out of anybody who is mortal. Tarak lightly nodded to himself as he saw them keeping people in line. Black Pheonix seemed to almost begin to look around, slowly scanning as almost looking for something, as the moment it saw what it was looking for, the large war machine moved towards a shipping container and went down to one knee as its hand pointed to one of the Outpost guards. Black Pheonix then gestured for the now fear stricken guard to open up the shipping container. Once it was open, the large mechanical beast began looking through as he pulls out some 'useless' items. As the Black Pheonix began going towards some of the vehicles that were not to be used, as he broke through the roofs of them and yanked out the dash boards and putting them into the shipping container, stray crates, and sometimes just larger things that he finds.

Yet the moment Desperado heard Family Man call out, Black Pheonix began moving at a speed much similar to a rushing man trying to pack as much possible into his suitcase before needing to leave for his flight he is later for. Once Desperado heard the missiles and guns fire, he looked towards the guard who is about to run and gestures to the container. The man looks to the container and then the mech kneeling next to it like a doe in head lights, as the mechs head tilts and gestures once again now with more emotion and emphasis as the man goes and closes the container. Black Pheonix gives the man a thumbs up afterward and light waves for him to shoo as the Mech begins to shift the container and drag it with him. The man watched the mech leave and ran like a child who was scared by the large biker who speaks in a near yelling voice. As the Black Pheonix moved, it made its way through and looked towards Reya and tossed her a thumbs up as he moved through the gate and out. They needed to begin their move out, they were getting passed over by aircraft, so they could possibly be expecting more force soon.

Desperado began scanning the landscape, they had much distance to cover, and things felt tense. There was no way this was it, they were just found, they needed to move, but what if they had an element patrolling. They couldn't hope this would be over with a few vehicles on a fly over going dark and then them getting away. This was a much more funded force, they would have more to work with than they do. As Desperado flicked his direct coms to Ramrod as he gave a quick, "Desperado ready, what's the move Lance Leader?"

Work was done quickly, smoothly, and efficiently. Ingrid's fears had been partially laid to rest. No outrageous dishonor was needed here, just solid work - she gave a small huff of contentment. Congratulations would be needed on all their parts...even the tankers. Yes, she did notice that napalm round going off in the corner of her vision, because it'd be hard not to notice the largest firework of the day going off. It was...not the ideal way of dispatching the enemy, but it worked, and what else were they there for?

In contrast to the grime and shock of the field that Reya was experiencing, the view from the Ostroc's cockpit made it all seem quaint. The most attention she had thrown the way of the infantrymen down there was a flash of green light that evaporated a man with a missile launcher aimed at her, and with the last weapons sounding off between 'mech and enemy, it all but escaped her mind.

It took her a moment to recognize the voice coming in on her comms, but it was clear enough. The slight Kuritan accent, hard to notice but never impossible, gave it away. "Copy, Sunflower. I will get him on that. Stay safe down there." That well-wish came across little stiff, but she's always stiff.

Just as, and she couldn't stress it enough, just as Giggles called out the arrival of air cavalry, so too did Raven manage to pick them up on visual. They're never slow like in the movies; they'll be on them in a moment's notice. Ingrid pulled over towards the shipping containers, and spoke on the comms again: "Good eye and good mind, respectively. Giggles, take out all air support first, then load up. Family Man, once we have all left, I need you to destroy the entrace to the base; fire into the ground and make it as hard as possible for them to come reclaim later."

She made Susser Tod perform a squat, which is far from the top of the list of what the designers of the machine intended - she could hear some groaning as the hip actuators strained in ways that they rarely had to in its centuries of service. Still, with the Ostroc's long arms, it was easier than kneeling. A shipping container was taken in two hands like a strongman getting ready to toss a caber, and then she was off and out of the base.

"We are moving out, Desperado. Don't stray too far from the APCs in case--when something else turns up, but now we're hauling. Copy?" It was going to be a fraught few minutes for her. With the container blocking her weapon's ports, the only thing she could rely on were her 'mech's SRMs, and those would be pointless. Unless the air cav pilots felt suicidal enough for a low, sweeping dive on the giant robots today.

Hearing what Reya asked of Family Man, Marit walked Archie over to the containers closest to the entrance. Lifting three to get a feel for their weight, she dragged them over to the side of the gate, pausing to look around the sky after every one, then grabbed another one to steal on their way out and left it a little ways off. When suddenly…

"Family Man here; picking up hostiles,"

She would’ve preferred a direction and type. She’d been looking North-east at the time Rivers detected the gunships, making her usual proficiency with long range detection null and void. Seeing which way the Shadow hawk was turned, she quickly spun Archie’s torso to face the correct direction and hit the missile door switch, an indicator light and the correct duration of the hum of the motors behind her letting her know that the doors had opened. There! Three contacts, the radar identified them as H-7 Warriors, gunning right for them. Not the air support Marit had been expecting. Though family Man said he’d handle them, she judged fast and certain elimination a priority. If all three weren’t destroyed in rapid succession, the survivor would only need a second or so to dive for the deck to break line of sight and escape, exposing them. At least that was her line of thought as she locked onto the farthest contact, the square on her HUD around the dot in the sky and steady tone telling her the missiles were ready to fire. Ingrid’s order dispersed all doubts. ”Yes ma’am.”

She thumbed the trigger, the cockpit temperature instantly rising by a couple degrees and the deep ‘whoosh’ of fired missiles echoing through the cockpit as she watched her missiles arch toward the third gunship a second behind the quintet of Family Man’s ordnance. That autocannon shot was a good one, getting the lead, drop and windage this quickly and at that range, Marit thought with a bit of envy. One day, perhaps…

11 volleys left. She waited for everyone to get out of the base, ushering them with a wave of Archie’s hand, then placed one of the prepared shipping containers across the gate, piling two more on top in a haphazard fashion to make removing them by crane harder. Busted road, blocked gate, mines everywhere preventing bypassing them. The locals would have to work hard to get this depot back up and running. ”By the time we’re done here, there will be insults coined bearing our name.” She could vividly imagine someone calling their sibling ‘...such a Green Knight!’ for making their life difficult, doing her callsign justice as she spoke. Picking up her selected container, she held it below the cockpit, having to extend it forward due to where an Archer’s cockpit was and lean Archie’s torso back a bit awkwardly to balance the weight out.

The pilot of the Warrior attack helicopter had already begun to suspect something was wrong when his sensors started going fuzzy on approach to Outpost F-10, then cut out. His suspicions were confirmed when he attempted to check in with his wingmen, only to be greeted with harsh electronic static. His instincts told him to pull out, but with no way to relay that message to the other members of the squadron, he'd be sending them to their deaths. Best to stick to the plan: assess the situation, confirm enemy action, then bug out.

The plan, however, quickly fell apart when a burst of autocannon shells ripped through the cockpit of Miaodao Two, followed by a flight of long-range missiles mangling the rotors of Miaodao Three.

On paper, the Warrior H-7's SarLon-2 Autocannon outranged the enemy's weapons, but all the range advantage in the world meant nothing if they couldn't see the enemy coming and coordinate their fire. As it was, they were easy targets in a shooting gallery.

As a second flight of missiles streaked through the sky towards him, Miaodao One spent his last moments of life pulling his helicopter into full reverse, hoping to pull back from the enemy's jamming field, while screaming onto open comms "ENEMY CONTACT! REPEAT, ENE--"

He would never know if his calls for help would be answered.

---

"Uhhh, Colonel?" Lieutenant Lyons spoke up. "The contacts on the seismic sensors? They're....they're gone, sir."

"Gone as in they've left the effective operational range?" Colonel Wayne asked, hopefully.

"Negative, Colonel," Lyons responded. "Gone as in they just...disappeared from the monitor. We're not picking up anything at all in that area."

"So either they came to a complete stop for no apparent reason," Higgins began thinking about the possible meaning.

"...or the enemy lance has one of their Ravens with them," Windham continued his thought.

"...and they've just activated their own ECM field," Lyons completed the train of logic.

"And now we've got no way to track them without giving away our own position," the Colonel added.

A long silence hung in the air for a moment.

"Gods of space," Lyons said breathlessly.

"Blake's Blood," Higgins muttered to himself.

"Frackencrack," Windham added, using an obscure expletive rarely heard outside certain regions of the Draconis Combine.

"Shit," Colonel Wayne summed up everyone's thoughts succinctly. "Higgins, prepare to send a high-power microwave-burst transmission to the Green Knights. We can't point-to-point them with the ECM field up, so we'll just need to shotgun the message in their general direction."

"Sir, that'll make us stick out like a sore thumb," Higgins protested. "If the Crimson Fists come after us, we're dead."

"My order stands, Cadet," Gaius stared him down. If putting himself in the line of fire meant keeping the Green Knights alive, then so be it.

"Yes sir," Higgins meekly nodded before flipping a few toggles on the comms suite. "Antenna is live, sir. We've got enough juice for a five second burst."

Colonel Wayne nodded, then raised the comms microphone to speak into it.

"Green Knights, this is Gawain Actual," he spoke with a quick but authoritative tone. "Hostile mechs inbound, rendezvous at nav-point Echo! Repeat, hostile mechs inbou--"

"Five seconds are up, sir," Higgins cut him off.

"Let's hope the Knights were listening," Lyons said, equal parts comment and prayer.

"And that the Crimson Fists weren't," Windham added.

"Agreed," Gaius nodded, before knocking on the hatch to the driver's cabin. "You heard my order, Private. Let's get the hell out of here."

"Yes sir," came the response, and the Mobile HQ's massive diesel engine roared to life.

"GREEN KNIGHTS, THIS IS GAWAIN ACTUAL."

Someone in the maintenance crew hadn't prepared for the (admittedly slim) possibility that the Ostroc would be receiving such a high-amplitude burst on the comms channel - some failure to calibrate the 500 year old comms suite in just the right way. The Colonel's message had been received at several times its actual volume, and Ingrid rocked in her seat as she slammed a palm against her neurohelmet to get the damn thing to quiet down. Luckily, it only lasted five seconds.

Regardless of Lyons' worries, it was very certain that at least one of them was listening.

The deep hum of the 'mech's cockpit and grinding of metal fingers against a cargo container resumed as her ears came back to full strength. She grunted, and flipped on comms for all friendly channels.

"I hope you heard him, lance!" Her voice came out even more staccato and commanding than usual. "Nav-point Echo! Double-time! This will not be as easy as the compound if the enemy catches up to us; eyes on radar and eyes on the horizon! Your battlemech and your life are more important to us than the cargo, remember that!"

He pushed her 'mech to move to its limit of speed, the container weighing her down and undoubtedly putting even more stress on the actuators. Occasionally there'd be a loud scrape as the box ran against some rock protruding from the ground. She didn't have time to treat the damn thing properly...

Raven Rivers

"I'll melt the base entrance with the laser, then," Raven said, intermittently panting between each word, "They should have fun navigating molten metal and rock..."

Then they received a message from the Captain himself: The Crimson Fists were coming. With a note of urgency in his tone, Raven shouted, "I'm melting the base entrance now!"

A few seconds later, Raven's cockpit was sweltering to the limits of normal human endurance and the enemy supply depot had been rendered unusuable. Now it was time for them all to go, and Raven followed after the others as they went to the designated escape route, hopefully still covered by ECM and with some more moments to spare before the enemy forces arrived. Even then, Raven knew that their new base might have been compromised by the Colonel's transmission, meaning that it was imperative they get there quickly before the enemy decided to send an expedition to their makeshift 'home' (quotation marks deliberate).

Another part of him hoped that the Espian Free People's Movement and their armed forces made use of the inevitable reprieve for them well; Raven still rooted for them despite everything everyone else said.

“ Alright, double-time, Takka, let’s move it or lose it!”

The radio transmission stuck out like a canopian chihuahua barking its ass off. Such a powerful transmission was comparable to lathering yourself in barbeque sauce and diving into a pit full of lions. Everyone knew where their HQ was and it didn’t take an idiot to put two and two together to find out that one of their supply warehouses was being attacked.

Aroxy waved over to Helma and Ansel who ran back to the safety of the Merry Go Round like their lives depended on it. The Von Luckner was already crawling at a slug’s pace, its engine slowly starting up, as the two crewmembers clambered onto their hull. Latching on like mice, they scrambled into the porthole and sealed it off.

“ Did we manage to get any LRMs?,” Aroxy questioned out loud whilst Helma began opening ammunition chambers, sliding shells inside.

“ Only a few, captain! It’s not going to be enough for extended combat.”

“ Let’s hope we won’t need it. Keep that turret inclined up, Helma. If we can’t get a lock, we might as well try and swat them out of the sky.”

Location:
Western Continent, Espia
NPDRE Outpost F-10
Date/Time:
18 April, 3030/0515 Hours
Interactions:
The Green Knights
Gear:
SERE Kit- Tarak keeps a SERE(Survival Evasion Resistnace Escape) kit inside his cockpit incase he needs to eject and survive in the wilderness on his own for some time, he has a black hard polymer pack filled with MREs to last him a few days, a broken down Semi-automatic carbine with one 20 round magazine, a flash light, a canteen filled with 1L of water, a knife, a trauma kit to stabilize wounds and set broken bones, and a collapsible spade within it. This kit is attached to his seat to keep it from flying about and possibly causing damage while within the cockpit.

Combat gear- a white and grey camo clothing, a cooling vest able to take small arms fire and regulates his body temperature to allow for higher survivability inside and outside the cockpit, a pair of gloves, his boots, some light armoring across his body to more easily take impacts and dampen blows, and his Neurohelmet. He has a suppressed hand gun with one 20 round magazine holstered on his left leg, and on his right leg he has his Personal Cassette Player which has his "Flower's Favorites" cassette in it.

---

As Desperado moved through the gates and heard Ramrod had called out for them to act as pack mules. As Black Pheonix began to adjust the large container in its hands and began to go forward yet the moment he took a further step forward it froze in place and waited, as within Tarak had received the burst transmission, his comms were quite ready for something like this, as the designers of the Pheonix Hawk seemed to have expected a high-power microwave-burst transmission to be used, so they prepared for it to receive an over the top microwave-burst that could be heard through almost anything.

"Green Knights, this is Gawain Actual, Hostile mechs inbound, rendezvous at nav-point Echo! Repeat, hostile mechs inbou--"

As once the call was passed from Ramrod to move, Black Pheonix shifted the container in its hands as it shifted the container to his off hand so it can aim its weapon while moving as Desperado said, "Yes ma'am!". As the legs of Black Pheonix to begin to move as the container behind him began dragging on the ground and gravel. Slight scrapping and scratching occurred, yet every now and again a loud bang and screech came from the container as it hits many different things in the way. Yet Desperado almost tuned it all out, he was looking and watching for almost anything. As his hand within the machine almost twitched waiting for a Battlemech to appear.

That was that taken care of, though someone would miss them eventually. All goes well, they’d be long gone. Only five more hours of walking now stood between them and a good meal. Hopefully a shower. Or so it seemed, until…

"Green Knights, this is Gawain Actual, Hostile mechs inbound, rendezvous at nav-point Echo! Repeat, hostile mechs inbou-"

Enemy ‘Mechs inbound. To quote an immortal classic: ‘Cock…’ How? Was their intel that off? Did they just happen to be moving toward the depot at the same time as they had? Bad luck, this planet, that was the problem. Can’t have anything nice around here. She closed the missile covers again and hauled ass to get away, lamenting Archie’s wide shoulders and short upper forearms which prevented her from dragging the container behind her like everyone else.

”Straight for the nav-point or zig-zag?” She asked, not wanting to lead any pursuers straight to it. Having turned Archie’s torso as far right as it would go, she was now able to look forward out the left hand side of the canopy and more importantly, able to look behind them out the right hand side. After a moment of deliberation, she armed and loaded the second LRM-10 launcher, setting it as a fourth weapons group. Reasoning that if the Meteors were to arrive, they’d have been here already and if they launched in response to the lost gunships, the Knights would be long gone by the time they reached the depot, Marit switched her focus to detecting BattleMechs. As soon as the depot was clear of jamming, they would no doubt start telling everyone what just happened and where the Knights went.

Grasslands, Sector E-10
Thirty Minutes After Convoy Departure from Outpost F-10

"Eeeeeuuughhh," Cadet Windham groaned, his face all but turning green from nausea as the Mobile HQ bumped and bucked off-road. "The sooner we get back to base, the better."

"Got a paper bag under the seat if you need it," Cadet Higgins smirked. Windham shot him an angry glare, which just made his smirk grow that much wider.

"Any sign of being trailed?" Colonel Wayne asked again, as he'd done every few minutes since they rolled out.

"Still nothing, sir," Lieutenant Lyons responded, managing to keep her monitors and notes in order even as the rough ride knocked everyone in the cabin around. "If the enemy's using one of their Ravens, though, I doubt we'll see them coming."

The Raven was the pride and joy of the Capellan Confederation Armed Forces, a technological breakthrough after centuries of stagnation and degradation. While the ECM field deployed by Ziska's own Raven kept the Green Knights and the convoy safe from detection, the Crimson Fists having one of their own meant they could pull the same trick.

And much to Colonel Wayne's trepidation, it wasn't the only trick that an advanced ECM Suite could perform.

"Hang on, Colonel," Lyons said as the tell-tale BEEP-BEEP-BEEP of enemy contacts appeared on the Mobile HQ's monitors. "I'm picking up all four contacts again, about two klicks to the north of us."

"Heading our way?"

"Negative," the Lieutenant answered. "At their current heading, it's likely that they're going to stumble into the Knights."

"But why drop the ECM field?" Windham asked. "Why make their presence known when they know we're in the area?"

"Because they're using the ECM offensively," the Colonel answered. "An ECM Suite can be configured to work as a counter to an active field. If that Raven has a counter-ECM going and it happens across Ziska's ECM bubble..."

"...then it'll leave the Green Knights and the convoy open to enemy fire," Higgins concluded.

"Any eyes on the enemy Mechs yet?"

"Negative, Colonel," came the response from Windham. "Seismic sensors are still picking up three 35-tonners and one 85-tonner. One Raven for sure, and probably the Battlemaster. No word on the others."

"Get ready to send another microwave-burst transmission," Colonel Wayne ordered. "That assault 'Mech won't be able to keep up with the lights, so we might be able to convince it to go for some slower prey. The Battlemaster only has one PPC for range; if we keep enough distance from it, we can keep out of the brunt of its firepower. Then we can make a break for the storm cell coming in and lose them in the rain."

"Understood, sir," Lyons nodded, obedient but unconvinced. Regardless of whether it was the Battlemaster's only long-range weapon, a Particle Projector Cannon could still chew through the HQ's armor with two well-placed hits. "The enemy is getting danger-close to the convoy. Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll move right past us...."

"Don't hold your breath," the Colonel scoffed. "Chances are this is about to get real ugly."

---

As the Green Knights shepherded the supply convoy along, trying to slip away to the rendezvous point, a nearby copse of trees began to rattle with movement. With a sudden cacophony of snapping branches and splintering tree trunks, three massive shapes erupted from the tree line with alarming speed.

The first was a familiar sight to the Green Knights: the back-canted legs and beak-like fuselage gave away the form of a Raven. Identical to the one piloted by Ziska, save for a paint job of bloody crimson trimmed with yellow in flame patterns, it sported a pair of Ceres Arms Medium Lasers and a six-rack of Harpoon Short-Range Missiles. This firepower was not particularly fearsome, but what truly made it frightening was its electronic warfare equipment. Along with the ever-useful ECM Suite, the Raven carried a Bloodhound Active Sensor Probe to seek out hidden enemy units, a Target Acquisition Gear targeting laser to direct long-range fire, and a Narc Missile Beacon to guide more warheads to their targets. The Raven was hardly a stand-up fighter, but made for a brilliant support 'Mech, one that now sprinted towards the convoy with its targeting laser glimmering in the morning mist.

Flanking the Raven were two other light 'Mechs, both substantially more potent in terms of firepower. On its left side was a Jenner,, the preferred light striker of the Draconis Combine. Like the Raven, its profile was almost completely inhuman, a dome-like cockpit thrust ahead of the main torso, stumpy weapon pods where arms might be, and a pair of vaguely humanoid legs that took long, bounding strides, quickly overtaking the Raven in a full sprint. It carried a quartet of Argra 3L Lasers, backed up by a Thunderstroke-4 Short-Range Missile Launcher, giving the light mech the ability to punch well above its weight, and sported enough Jump Jets to grant it excellent agility on top of its speed.

The third was an extremely rare sight, one almost never seen outside of Steiner or Davion forces, and even then only in the past five years. Unlike the bird-like Raven and strangely insectoid Jenner, this 'Mech was near completely humanoid, barring the massive gun muzzle ending its right arm, and the canine-shaped head that identified the new 'Mech as a Wolfhound. Like the Jenner, the Wolfhound was a hard-hitting harasser 'Mech, sporting four Defiance B3M Medium Lasers, though one of them was mounted in the 'Mech's rear to discourage enemies from getting behind it. Instead of short-range missiles, however, the Wolfhound punctuated its salvos with a Setanta Arms Large Laser. Firing its entire compliment of energy weapons turned the 'Mech's cockpit into an oven for the pilot, but it could dish out a tremendous amount of damage for a 'Mech its size.

Acting together, the Jenner and the Wolfhound had the potential to shred much larger 'Mechs in short order, and that is precisely what the 'Mechs of the Crimson Fists set about doing. Picking what they believed to be the biggest possible threat, the two Light 'Mechs sprinted toward the Ostroc, zig-zagging in a serpentine pattern to avoid fire from the Green Knights as they approached. The Jenner suddenly broke to the left, and the Wolfhound to the right, before filling the dull gray morning with blinding laser light. Between the two light 'Mechs, five of their seven Medium Lasers hit their marks, melting gouts of armor off of the heavy 'Mech's torso, mostly between the left side and center. While the Wolfhound's Large Laser went wide, carving a trench in the earth by the Ostroc, all four of the Jenner's SRMs connected, blasting more armored fragments off of the Ostroc's chest and right arm. Together, while the damage wasn't enough to pierce the Heavy 'Mech's armor and risk catastrophic internal damage, the sudden loss of so much mass combined with the concussive blasts from the missiles threatened to knock Daschke's 'Mech to the ground.

Meanwhile, the Raven split away from the other two, bearing down on one of the convoy trucks instead. With a flash of its TAG laser and a jet of propellant as the Narc Missile Beacon crunched into the side of the truck, the light support 'Mech suddenly changed course to disengage, attempting to disengage before the Green Knights could focus fire on it.

As the Raven broke away, the sky filled with streaks of fire and smoke, before a hellish rain of Long-Range Missiles screamed down onto the unfortunate supply truck, blasting the defenseless vehicle and its occupants to pieces in a single salvo. The truck, carrying mostly MREs and spare uniforms, was mercifully the least valuable in the convoy, but the next in line was one of the all-too-vital water trucks.

While bits of debris from the supply truck rained down on the battlefield, an electronically-modulated voice boomed over an open comms channel.

"To the gutless, sell-sword mercenary scum who call themselves Gawain's Green Knights," the voice declared, "You have chosen a poor day to crawl out from whatever hole in which you have hidden since our rise to power. Today, you face the Fire Witches, the burning wrath of the Crimson Fists. It will be my distinct pleasure to send you all to the hell that awaits you."

Nearly a full kilometer back, a figure crested a hill. While it was indeed an 85-tonner, it was not the Battlemaster the Colonel had suspected. While the Battlemaster was roughly humanoid in shape from top to bottom, any resemblance to the human form this 'Mech might have had ended at the waist. Its torso was blocky, with its head built into the main fuselage rather than above it. The wide, square chest boasted gleaming laser lenses and racks of missiles, but those were paltry compared to the huge, barrel-like drums where its arms should be. These massive cylinders carried enough LRMs to destroy or cripple nearly any enemy unit on the field in a single salvo-- just as it had done during the coup, when it had killed Wrathchild.

Standing at the top of the hill was the absolute last word in long-range firepower: a Longbow.

"Come and face the Fire Witch, Green Knights. Come and burn, like your friends before you."

The forest line broke apart in a spray of splinters and Aroxy hitched a breath at the sight of the three mechs. Two lights, one heavy. Only one faction on this planet could bring this much force to bear. The Crimson Fists. There was no warning as they began savagely ripping into their contingent of mechs without mercy. Aroxy watched from the safety of the Merry Go Round as molten plating dribbled off their Ostroc and their entire column of supply trucks was shrouded in a fog of smoke and fire. Now, they were being ambushed. The universe had a sense of irony.

Still, they’d all forgotten the Von Luckner half a kilo behind them.

“ Right, let’s give them our reply.” Aroxy began barking out orders at a rapid pace. “ Alright, Helma. Give me a round of AP. Takka, let’s make sure that Wolfhound goes back crying back home to his commander. Elma, man those LMGs and become a gnat on the ass of those light mechs.”

“ Sir, yes ,sir!,” The entire team went to work, man and machine fused in a singular harmony as chambers were filled with artillery, the engine throttled and belts of bullets were dragged to be loaded. The twin sponson-mounted gatling guns whined before unleashing a rain of bullets upon the two light mechs. They weren’t going to do much damage but it was better than pissing in the wind and hoping for a miracle.

The Merry Go Round’s turret then craned to the right, directly towards the Wolfhound.

“ Loaded!,” Helma shouted.

“ Fire!,” Aroxy ordered, slamming his hand on the steel interior walls, sweat beading down his forehead.

“ Ontheway!,” Takka replied back.

The recoil shook the Merry Go Round back at a few feet, the round hurtling towards its target. The Wolfhound only had a second of warning before the AP shell smashed into its right shoulder. The frame of the mech swiveled as the inertia of the impact made it sway on its feet. The Wolfhoudn tried to move its right arm but it suddenly snapped off, revealing a tangle of power cables and hydraulic tubing. It hung onto the Wolfhound limply, the maimed limb and integrated gun now dead weight to the heavy mech.

Ingrid, heeding her own advice, had spotted the enemy coming visually and was quick to drop her cargo for a shot at self-defence. However, she wasn't prepared for the burst of fire that was coming her way - it was lucky that it was only the two who came after her, for the blast was withering enough.

Her whole world rocked about and she briefly struggled to keep a grip on the stick of her 'mech, Susser Tod's torso listing backwards and threatening to topple over entirely. Her armor was scored with still brightly-glowing marks of glittering heat, and in one moment, she was reminded why all battlemechs are respected on the field, no matter the size. It was only by a quick, if textbook, response on her part that she didn't fall flat on her giant metal ass: a joystick pulled backward to give a single step of reverse movement, alongside neurohelm impulses to put her weight onto her back leg, allowed her to recover and stand upright a moment later.

She barely heard her own order with the ringing in her ears, but nonetheless she shouted "Remember! Fighting retreat! Focus on breaking away - focus on the Raven." and turned.

The bite of the enemy commander's barbs was enough to elicit a reaction out of her on open channels, but as her mind envisioned great tales of valiant knights taking on witches and always coming out the victor, chivalric allegories that would be well-remembered in this battle...

...the urgentness of the situation made her response come out much less eloquently, and much more reflexively German. "Halt die Klappe, du Schwätzer!" She closed the line and focused.

Her physical response was the loosing of her Fuersturm-C Large-class lasers, aimed at the first enemy within her line of view: the Jenner. She braced, aimed, shot out two brilliant beams of blue light - feeling the wash of heat come over her instantly, the heat sinks of her mech struggling to instantly sink it.

It went well. Initially. Then three contacts popped up almost right on top of them. One she could’ve ascribed to a phantom. But three in a formation? No, no, that could only have been...

…Indeed, a Raven, and two other anklebiters out for blood. Marit set the container she was carrying down as fast as she could without dropping it outright, hoping that whatever was in there wasn’t too fragile and opened up on the Raven, firing her four medium lasers at the light ‘Mech’s legs one at a time to avoid a heat spike and maximize her chance to get at least some hits on target. Her first thought even matched that of an experienced MechWarrior to her infinite delight, as obvious as that action was. Unfortunately in the time it took her to ditch her own cargo, one of the captured trucks changed its state from solid to vapor. Then the fourth BatleMech came to view, rounding out a whole lance. Nice of him to skyline himself like that. Cocky bastard.

Being talked to by the Colonel was somewhat expected at this point, but a message from the other side was not. Especially not… this. It was like a villain escaped from an Immortal Warrior episode. One of the weird ones. ”Gutless scum? Hi pot, I’m Kettle, för fan i helvete…” Marit grumbled as she turned the volume of the channel the inflamed bitch was being extra on way down. She had half a mind to send a LRM volley his way, but she also had a feeling all that would do is bring the hammer down on her head next, aided by that scarlet magpie running circles around her.

Speaking of which, she took a few steps to put Archie between the nearest water truck and the Longbow, ready to unload into the offending corvid’s legs again as soon as the cooldowns elapsed. She didn’t know what sort of ritual Reya performed to get their lasers to do what they were doing, but the decreased heat generation and beam duration were perfect for an Archer driven by a novice MechWarrior.

---

Ziska didn't bother wasting words. For all her humor, banter, and jibes thrown around freely, she had little interest in chatting with the enemy. She'd let them stew in their own silence. She'd wait for their unease to grow. Killing was serious work. And she had no intention of letting the crimson Raven escape alive.

Hearing Saarinen's lasers cut through the skies, Ziska wasted no time waiting for her battle computer to spit out damage. Pushing the handle of her throttle full forward, she slammed her right pedal, sending her RVN-3L thundering through scattered wreckage as she cut the angle between the fleeing RVN-3L the now distant Longbow in a razor sharp curve.

Twisting her sights on top of the Ziska fired a NARC missile and her TAG laser at the rear of the RVN-3L. A rear shot would be ideal, a left rear torso shot acceptable. Matching the speed of the other light mech, she kept her tight intercept, firing her two medium lasers. The proximity warning system in her RVN-3L blared at her as the distance between the two opposed RVN-3Ls closed to 90 meters. Unflinching, Ziska fired a salvo of SRM-6 Inferno rounds at the crimson Corvid.

Peeling off, mindful of closing the distance to the lurking Longbow, Ziska, shifted at an angle to the enemy RVN-3L keeping her tag laser firing on target for as long as she could. It wouldn't do to catch an LRM volley from the Assault BattleMech and she had no intention of being sandwiched between the enemy RVN-3L and the two light BattleMechs the Crimson Fists had brought to the fight.

Raven Rivers

"Joy," the pilot named Raven remarked with a note of sarcasm, even as he charged up his Shadow Hawk's laser to fire at the enemy mech which was called a Raven (yes, it was confusing as it sounds). He then continued, "You've succeeded in infuriating us. It would have been best if you had just negotiated our departure from this planet instead of attacking us, our spouses, and our children; now you've left us with nothing to lose and everything to gain by splattering your asses to the ground. Plus, aren't you mercs too, or are you going to tell us you're something fancier? If so, I don't believe it."

He was waiting until the other mechs close to him scored hits at the ECM-emitting foe, hoping that they would breach the enemy Raven's armor with concentrated fire before he shot at it with the hope of frying its circuits, letting loose an intensely blue beam of light aimed directly at the mech's cockpit. That ought to end the enemy mech for good and restore their own Raven (the mech; still confusing)'s ECM bubble. Once that mech was slag, Raven would turn his autocannon at the Wolfhound Arroxy had shot at, pointing his autocannon at it and firing a round of large bullets at the 'Light Mech' before remembering that this was supposed to be a fighting retreat.

Hatred seeped through his voice as he spoke, "You're going to know what it's like to be unable to protect the people you care about. Not that you care about anyone but yourselves..."

Location:
Western Continent, Espia
NPDRE Outpost F-10
Date/Time:
18 April, 3030/0515 Hours
Interactions:
The Green Knights
Gear:
SERE Kit- Combat gear-

---

The moment the tension became thick enough to be cut with a knife, hell broke loose and the devil came to have his fun. As missiles and laser fire rained down onto the convoy and Ostroc, Tarak noticed the Raven that came all too close to the convoy and ripped apart the truck carrying MREs, a blow some would find merciful, yet one that still hurt. Tarak's blood began to boil, as he felt his heart racing he thought of what was happening. His mind began to race once more to his dreams, and then what is happening now, those inside the vulnerable convoy. His helmet hid his face from the world, as underneath was that of a visage of a demon.

His face contorted as his teeth bared, and his voice almost roared through the steel coffin he named Black Pheonix, yet none could hear. The comms never came on, as he made sure they were never to come on past a certain volume. Black Pheonix dropped the cargo and rushed the Raven as it tried to escape. It was a light mech, fast on the move, yet he's tagged targets like that much the same. As he saw Alleycat's Raven move in to begin to confront the Crimson Raven, Desperado followed up.

As Desperado used his larger mech to threaten the Raven to move in specific ways, he followed the lead of Alleycat and her Raven to make sure they would never move into each other's pattern as they tried to corral the Crimson Raven. As shot after shot was unloaded into the Crimson Raven, Desperado saw his moment and raised his right arm and unloaded both his Large Laser and his Medium Laser on the right arm into the Raven to try and rip more of it apart, and maybe make use of the damage already done to finish it off.

As the moment they fully fired off their arms, Alleycat began to peel away as Black Pheonix would begin to do the same shifting more slowly to make sure he was the leading target so she had plenty of time and room to fall back as Black Pheonix was more able to eat a few shots than a Raven was.

The Raven piloted by the Crimson Fists staggered under the withering hail of fire from three of the Green Knights. Alley Cat's short-range missiles had opened up the internal structure across the small bird-like 'Mech's back, and while the TAG Laser and one of the Medium Lasers had missed the mark, the Narc Missile Beacon remained, which would help guide more missiles from the Green Knights to their target. After that, Family Man's attempt to fire into the 'Mech's head went low, but still gouged molten armor from the Mech's beak-like torso. Half of Giggles's barrage of laser fire connected, gouging into the armor on the right side of the torso and digging into the right arm. Finally, Desperado's Medium Laser was off by centimeters from tagging the enemy Raven's right arm, but the Large Laser struck home, melting away the armor on the 'Mech's arm and slicing into bundles of myomer fibers before the limb snapped off completely. Only through sheer concentrated effort did the Raven manage to stay upright, though it was highly unlikely it would survive another salvo like that.

With its heat buildup still relatively low, the enemy Raven pilot wheeled around, kicking up dirt and dust as its feet dug into the ground to push off into a sprint. Not bothering to acquire a target lock, it dumb-fired its Short-Range Missiles and Missile Beacon at Ziska's pursuing Raven as it attempted to flee.



The flight of SRMs went wild, blasting the ground around Alley Cat's Raven or streaking off into the morning mist, but none of the warheads hit their target. However, the second of the Light Mech's Narc Missile Beacons found its mark, lodging itself into the Green Knight's right arm, which could prove disastrous if the Longbow's Long-Range Missiles connected.

Meanwhile, the Crimson Fists' Jenner had found itself on the wrong end of a much heavier 'Mech, the Ramrod's Ostroc. Significantly outmassed and outgunned by the hulking machine, the pilot of the lighter 'Mech instead decided to make use of its superior speed and agility. With a roar, the Jenner triggered its Jump Jets, jets of superheated plasma venting directly from the 'Mech's fusion reactor as the 35-ton machine lifted into the air, before wheeling around and landing behind the already damaged Ostroc. Given the significant heat buildup, the Jenner pilot opted only to fire one of its four lasers, as well as its four-shot rack of SRMs. Even so, the heat would cause a drop in the 'Mech's speed as its myomer muscles cramped up, so it would instead attempt to use its agility advantage to keep it out of the Ostroc's line of fire.



The Jenner's Medium Laser went wide, but all four of its Short-Range Missiles dug into the Ostroc's back. Even though the Heavy 'Mech severely outgunned and out-armored the Jenner, it suffered the same weakness as many Battlemechs of its generation: paper-thin back armor. On its left side, two warheads blasted away the armored paneling, exposing the internal structure. The other two warheads hit across the center and right side. Another hit to the rear along any location threatened catastrophic internal damage.

Not far away, the enemy Wolfhound was thrown off-balance by the sudden loss of its right arm, and it began to list over to one side. The pilot, however, was skilled enough to turn the fall into a roll, the crimson-painted 'Mech coated in brown and green as the machine tore up the ground before coming up to its feet. With its primary weapon gone, the Wolfhound could no longer deal significant damage from a distance, and decided to close in to a target that lacked major close-range firepower, opting to go after Family Man in his Shadow Hawk.

Bobbing and weaving, the Wolfhound closed the distance with the heavier 'Mech. While the Shadow Hawk outweighed it by twenty tons, the Wolfhound had the speed advantage, and could stay well within the minimum effective range of the Hawk's Long-Range Missiles and Autocannon, while staying just out of range of the 'Mechs fists. At this range, the Shadow Hawk had a two-shot rack of SRMs and a single Medium Laser, while the Wolfhound could open up with all three.



Unfortunately for the Light 'Mech pilot, he hadn't compensated for how the loss of his arm would throw off the Wolfhound's gait, so two of the torso-mounted lasers went wide. The third did manage to strike the Shadow Hawk, but did little more than scour some armor off of its left arm.

"You must realize this is not a fight you can win," the pilot of the Longbow said over the open comms channel. "Even if you do manage to elude us here, a longer, slower death awaits you, wasting away in whatever hole you've been hiding in all this time. It would be a far nobler fate to die here and now, to accept the judgment that awaits you. My judgment, Green Knights, will be swift...and final."

With that, the hulking Assault 'Mech opened fire with its racks of Long-Range missiles, splitting its fire between the already-targeted Raven of Alley Cat, Giggles's Archer, and Desperado's Phoenix Hawk.



As the Longbow's missiles came down, the damage done to Marit's Archer and Tarak's Phoenix Hawk was minimal, with only a few plates taken off the Black Phoenix's chest, and little more than a few scratches of paint taken off of Archie's chest and legs. For a moment, the Green Knights might have been convinced the Fire Witch's boasts were little more than empty threats, a lot of posturing and blustering that would amount to nothing.

That is, until they saw what the Longbow had done to Ziska's Raven.

Homing in on the Narc missile beacon that had connected with the Raven's right arm, four flights of LRMs shredded the Light 'Mech's right side. Five of the warheads crushed into the light 'Mech's leg, bending the limb inward at an unnatural angle as they pulverized armor. Another Five took chunks of armor from the right arm, mercifully destroying the beacon pod in the process. The worst of it, however, came when ten missiles obliterated nearly all of the armor on the right torso; what remained was tatters so thin that even a hit from the smallest weapons would breach it and expose the Raven's irreplaceable internal components. The immense combined impact sent the Raven tumbling to the ground, the impact slamming Ziska hard against the restraints of her command couch.

"You have eluded us thanks to the advantage of your Scout 'Mech's stealth technology," the Fire Witch gloated. "We'll see how long you last once we clip this little bird's wings..."