Chapter 3

We had been hanging around the drop point of Cimeron waiting for our next assignment. The Davion Liaison Officer had said that he didn't think we would be waiting very long. Rachel and her crew of Techs had been taking care of a lot of the little nagging problems, stuck switches, relays that were either dirty or about to go out and things like that while we waited. The little glitches that they didn't have time for before when it was more critical to get the major problems repaired so the Mechs could go back into action. There was nothing wrong with the Sassy Lassy so we just did more tuning. Hoke had the Lassy's targeting computer so finely tuned I think I could cut the whiskers off a gnat's fanny at 300 meters and never touch either cheek. The ship had a full charge on the jump batteries and was ready to jump out as soon as a destination was given and the astrogator (That's a navigator for a Jumpship, though some people just call them navigators also.) could punch in the correct coordinates. The sails were only partially deployed so that a full charge was maintained and we were extremely bored when a ship materialized near us.

We had been standing by the guns on the Dropships just in case they were needed and we went to Red Alert as soon as our detectors picked up the fluctuation an incoming jump makes. We soon got the message to stand down as it was the ship we had been waiting for. Our services were needed at McGehee. Another strong force of 'Pirates' had dropped in and we were going to attack from the zenith drop point while the Davion ships attacked from the nadir point. With both drop points covered we were going hunting for the Jumpships this time as well. The partially deployed sail was retrieved while the astrogator checked and entered her figures and we prepared to jump. The Aerospace jockeys manned their craft as they were to deploy as soon as we arrived to take any Jumpships under their guns immediately. While we didn't have drop doors we did have doors that would allow two fighters to exit each of the Dropships. That gave us six fighters to take up station when we arrived.

There was an Invader and a Star Lord Jumpship waiting at the point and before they could react to our presence the pilots of the aerospace fighters had them covered. The Star Lord had one Dropship still attached but with our guns on them they surrendered without a fight. There wasn't much else they could do without detaching their sail and leaving it behind. Before they could do that the Aerospace pilots would have fired on them disabling them anyway. We detached two Dropships and moved them over to the two Jumpships to effect the capture. The two ships only had station keeping forces aboard and most of them had been working on repairing the Union that was attached to the Star Lord. It had taken damage during the invasion and had been sent back up for the engineering staff of the Jumpships to repair as well as they could until such time as they got to a properly equipped Spaceport. We had been carrying extra Jumpship crew for this very purpose so they were sent aboard to keep watch on the ships while we took most of the Pirate crew with us as prisoners. Some were left aboard to answer any messages beamed up from the planet. After taking aboard the fighters we detached and began our drop.

On the way down the prisoners were questioned about the Dropships they had brought in. We were later given the gist of the info and it was the most unlikely 'Pirate' group I had ever heard of. Two Overlords with a Battalion of BattleMechs each, three Unions, including the one we captured, with a company each, two Leopard CVs with six Aerospace fighters each, a Triumph with a Battalion of Tanks and a Condor with a Battalion of Infantry. This gave them a Regiment of BattleMechs, 30 Aerospace fighters, as well as the Battalion of Tanks and the Battalion of Infantry. I could see the Mechs and the fighters but for a 'Pirate' force to have infantry and tanks was not the normal course of things. This was an invasion force not a raiding force. The prisoners didn't know anything about them having artillery but they did say that the infantry had vehicles with them so I guess they had transportation on hand and didn't have to worry about capturing enough vehicles to move their infantry. For a name they just called themselves 'The Hunting Pack'.

My worry now was all those fighters. They could make things rough for us when we came in for our landing. I was hoping that the Davion's landing had taken a lot of the starch out of them on the way down. The Davion's had more fighters than we did but even so I didn't think they had that large of a force. I thought their only chance was going to be to catch a lot of them still on the ground otherwise our fighters were going to be greatly outnumbered and our Dropships would be attacked. We had upgraded and increased the weaponry on the Mules but still there were not enough to take on that number.

What made the waiting even worse was that I had no battle station when we were attacked. I just had to wait like many of the others while things went on around me that I had absolutely no control over. That's enough to give a person ulcers.

We had heard from the Davions that they had taken out many of the fighters and had only received light damage during their drop. We still didn't know what forces the Davion's were taking in on the drop or what they had encountered at their drop point. The pirate fighters hit us just before we entered the atmosphere. There were five Air Lances of Sholagars and four of Shilones for eighteen fighters. It was not as bad as it could have been but it was bad enough. Our fighters were outnumbered three to one however they had some help as the Davion fighters came up also. They engaged several of these fighters before they arrived so our guys weren't facing quite that many and not that many got through to attack us. I think also that the heavier weapons that we had mounted on the Mules surprised them just a bit. We received some damage but nothing like I had feared. Of course we found out all about the help and so on after we landed. The crew handling things didn't think it important enough to let us know at the time so we just suffered. I think sometimes in order to qualify to be a crewman on a Jump or Dropship you have to be a sadistic SOB whose parents were not married when you were born!

Our landing point had been secured and we started to off load. The ships had been combat loaded when we left Bryceland so I was one of the first to get out of that steel coffin. After being cooped up for so long it sure did feel good to have ground under my feet and to be breathing real air not that canned and recycled stuff that they have aboard the ship.

As I was leaving the Spaceport I looked around at the Davion Dropships. There was one that I had never seen before so I asked someone what it was. I now saw why the Davion's weren't afraid of the pirate fighters. They had taken in a Vengeance Dropship which is an Aerospace fighter carrier. On top of the fighters they had aboard the three Overlords there were forty more aboard the Vengeance. Counting the fighters that went in from the nadir point with the pirate Dropships the Davions still had a slight edge in numbers against them.

One of my radios (I now have three!) was tuned to the Davion Freak so I called them to see where the hot spots were. Guns Malone and his helos would be the first thing unloaded after the BattleMechs so I went looking for some targets for them. Simple in his Whitworth, Peter 'Wino' Winegardt and Sam DeAnda in their Griffins were with me still for support. As Davion had landed only the day before us it didn't take long to get to the front. The pirates were putting up a fight for this real estate. They had been here long enough to dig in and they wanted to keep what they had captured.

"Guns, how long before you guys are going to be ready for some business?" I asked.

"Come on Terry, let us get unloaded first. What do you want us to do, start firing while the guns are still aboard the ship?"

"Well hurry it up 'cause I have business for you that I'm going to pass on to the Missile Mechs if you don't get a move on."

"It's going to be another hour at least before we have things ready to move from here. They're just now bringing out the helos and then the guns are next. After that we have to wait while they unload our munitions before we can load up and follow you."

"Ok, Guns. Keep me posted. I'll take my business elsewhere for the time being."

Switching to another radio I called Billi. "Billi, you out yet? You and Buster head this way if you are. I might have some business for you soon if what this Davion pilot says pans out."

"Roger, Terry. We're headed your way now. See you in a bit," she answered.

The pilot said that the pirates had taken up a position in a series of gullies not far out of the spaceport. The way the gullies were situated it was hard to approach them and as the Davion forces were not completely organized themselves they were having some problems. This was holding up a large group of their Mechs as they didn't want to leave a force this size behind them. Davion had forces trying to circle them to the east.

I backtracked about a klick and headed west. When I came to the gully I entered and moved very slowly towards their forces. It took me about twenty minutes to work my way up near them and Billi had already reported that she and Buster were in position with the others. They moved up as close as they could without becoming targets themselves and were ready to receive my calls when I got into position.

Just as I got where I wanted to be I all but tripped over a platoon of infantry that was spread out in this direction to stop just what I was trying to do. I opened up on them with machine guns and called the plot in also.

"Ok, guys. There are two Lances of Mechs that I can see and several tanks here. I can't see them all and I'm a little busy with some PBIs also. Keep your shots tight and we should scare them out."

I put the Artemis on an Archer so that he couldn't return fire and sent the command. This cut me down to firing with only my left hand gun as the Artemis was in the right and I needed to keep it centered. The first salvo was dead on target and they blew the launchers off the Archer. The Archer must have opened the doors to fire at them just before the missiles arrived. It sat down and I shifted to a Warhammer which was the largest thing I could see. With the twists and turns in the gully I couldn't see every one of them, that plus the infantry that I had stumbled upon.

I had targeted the chest just below the head and with the spread they took off the head. Next was a Rifleman as I didn't want it to open up with the AC-5s it had. It went down also. Say what you want but when a hundred missiles come your way it can ruin your whole day.

"Davion from Eyeball. Get ready 'cause I think you're going to have some business soon. It's getting hot in the gully and they're going to be coming out any second now," I called.

I called shots in on two more Mechs and then they all came boiling out of the gully. There had been a Company of Mechs there but they were shy five of their number now. There was also a Company of tanks that came with them. There were four Von Luckner heavies, four Hunter lights which are LRM carriers and four Drillson heavies. The tanks charged the line of Mechs to buy time for their own Mechs which were trying to retreat. The Hunters were trying to get in range for their missiles while the others were closing to weapons range. I was still much closer than our Missile Mechs so I called the plots on the Hunters first and let the Davion Mechs handle the others when they arrived. The Hunters never even got in range. I split up the shots, having Billi fire with Simple and had Sam and Wino fire with Buster. That put fifty missiles on one tank and after each salvo I switched targets. They were good. They kept hitting the targets that I spot lighted for them.

Davion was enjoying themselves also. They had two Companies of Mechs drawn up waiting for the orders to charge the pirate's position. When the tanks appeared they charged. It didn't take long and what remained of the pirates tanks were trying to retreat. I yelled for some infantry to head this way to take the prisoners I had off my hands. When the Mechs retreated and the tanks charged the PBIs surrendered rather than face my machine gun. The heavy machine gun was able to punch through the sandbags that they had thrown up for defense so they had little protection.

"I don't think they'll give you credit for the tanks but you should get one each for the Mechs you took out with the missiles. I'll let the Major know and she can award the credits," I told them. All five had been Heavies which looks good on a Medium BattleMech Kill Shield. "Why don't you check to see if the munitions have been off loaded. Billi, you and Buster will need to reload before you can go much further."

I switched radios and asked for the Davion commander. When I got him I asked if he would mind if we tagged along and that I would have artillery on call before long. Needless to say he didn't object at all and was happy to have us. I told Guns where I was and what I was up to in case the Major should ask, I didn't want to bother her right now as she had her hands full unloading and getting things ready to move. Using the plot board I told him where the five Mechs were that we had taken out with missiles so they could be recovered. They were our kills, not Davions, that should make her happier.

Several of the pirate Mechs had been able to withdraw so we chased them for a while. Some of them had been intercepted by the Davion forces trying to circle around them but others were moving in the direction of their friends so that was just fine with the Davion Commander. When we caught up with them he was going to try to slow them down enough to allow the rest of his and our Battalions to catch up with us and then finish them off.

We had been moving for about twenty minutes when Guns called to say that he was armed and ready to move and that we were to shift and rejoin the Battalion. Specter had been given an assignment that did not coincide with the mission that the Davion Battalion was on. So after informing the Davions we rotated 135 degrees to the right and headed south to join them. We ran part of the way to the rendezvous point that Guns had given me and due to our speed we got there before they did so we waited. I should amend that, Simple ran and the rest of us just jogged along with him as he was slower than the rest of us. To be on the safe side I sent the Griffins forward to keep watch to make sure we weren't surprised.

In less than fifteen minutes the Scout Lance had joined us at the rendezvous point so we moved forward with them. Well half of us moved forward. Billi, Buster and Simple stayed back to rearm. The Trebuchets were down to the missiles in the launchers and Simple only had five flights left. I called Guns to let him know which plot board I was using and to make sure he was within range. As he was we kept moving.

The mission we had been given was to check out a small village that had given out very high MAG readings when the fighters overflew it. It was possible that Mechs were hiding in the buildings and we were to make sure.

An hour or so later we had the village in sight. I called Guns to see how far behind he was and he was close. I moved down into the flat before the village and called him. I gave him two plots and asked him to hit the fartherest one first. While I was waiting for him to fire I popped the canopy and tossed a large bed sheet to the left hand of my Mech. I then sat back down, secured the hatch and continued to wait.

I had called for them to fire into a vacant field on the other side of the village and then into one on this side. When that was done I shook out the sheet and holding it in the left hand of my Mech and the right hand up I advanced on the village. While I had been waiting in the flat and while I slowly advanced on the village more and more BattleMechs had crested the knoll that I had left. They were clearly visible from the village.

I stopped just before entering the village and using the external speakers called out, "Greetings from Major White, Specter Battalion, of Shadow Brigade. While we are a Mercenary Unit we do follow the Ares Conventions. As you can see this area is registered on our Artillery. You have three choices, One - you can surrender and save your lives, Two - you can try to withdraw, some of you might even make it and Three - you can fight and none of you will make it. You have ten minutes to decide. Should you decide of option #One then call us on 17.6 nanohertz and we will take your surrender."

I backed away until I was out of range of their weapons and then I turned and walked away. Major White had moved Mechs until they were in a semicircle around the village so if the Pirates tried to withdraw we could move on them fast. If they tried to fight we had the whole village under our guns. They were there, my MAGs had gone crazy with the readouts. Now we just waited.

At eleven minutes we had heard nothing and had seen no signs of withdrawal so I targeted the structure to the left of the main road going into the village. My MAG had been screaming when I pointed it towards that house.

"Ok, Guns. Two salvos, fast."

He fired in half battery groups, three, three, three and three. There was a constant roar on that house and at the end of the two salvos it was no longer standing but neither was the Mech that had been hiding inside.

I had him shift to the house on the right and repeat the firing. When it was reduced to rubble we got a call on the radio.

"Wolf Leader to the Phoenix Hawk, cease fire. We need to talk."

"Eyeball to Wolf Leader, we gave you time to talk and you didn't have anything to say. Now we're talking. It won't take us long to reduce a village that small. Do you want to stay there while we do it? You still have three options open, decide now."

"What guarantees do we have that you follow the Ares Conventions?"

"Wolf Leader, you're Pirates. Be glad we don't execute you on the spot. We are working for the Fed Suns and you will be turned over to them as soon as it can be arranged. All of your dealings will then be with a House of the Inner Sphere and one of the original signers of the Convention. Decide now as I am calling another plot."

"Don't fire! We're coming out."

"As you exit the village, all Mechs are to pop their canopies and keep their weapons pointed into the air and if you have tanks they will have their turrets pointed to the rear. Should any weapons come down that Mech or tank will immediately be fired upon and killed. In the excitement others might fall victim also."

"I repeat, don't fire, we're coming out."

As they came out I could see why they were so ready to surrender. It was a mixed Company. Two Mediums and a Light Mech, three Heavy tanks and two platoons of infantry. Against a Battalion of Mechs with Artillery they wouldn't have stood a chance.

Wolf Leader turned out to be a Captain. I took his informal surrender while waiting for Major White to arrive. True to Kurita nature he didn't want to surrender to her but I cinched it when I told him that as an enlisted man I couldn't take his official surrender. I don't know what pissed him off the most, that I was only an enlisted man or that she was a female!

We learned that the residents of the village had been driven out and had headed towards Sangremont, a town north and east of here. Major White dispatched two APCs to try to intercept them or at least let someone in Sangremont know that Nanko had been liberated with little damage and the residents could return if they wanted.

Our infantry took charge of the prisoners and were to take them to the Davions for internment. Our Techs took charge of the three Mechs and the three Tanks. We don't use tanks much in our battles but we could always take them back to Providence and use them for Home Defense or as training vehicles at the Academy.

The second part of our mission was to check out an area that looked like it was being used for an encampment. At least there was a very high MAG reading from the fly over. The Scouts were staying with the prisoners until additional transportation arrived to take them back for the internment. They were fast enough that upon being freed up they could catch up with us. Simple and the Trash Buckets were rearmed and with me again so the six of us became the Scouts. We had Simple move at top speed for the first twenty minutes and we jogged along with him. After that we all slowed down and moved into a line abreast so our sensors were spread out and we had wider reception coverage.

I kept both the Major and Guns apprised of our position and what we had seen. As evening approached we selected a likely spot for an encampment and began to set up for the night. Major White agreed with our position and soon we had Sentries out, Combat Engineers setting out motion detectors and other sensors and we were ready to stay overnight.

Several hours after dark we were set upon by two Sholagar fighters. They had come in very low and were not picked up until the last minute. They made a strafing run right through the middle of the camp. They then swung around to make a second pass which was a mistake. Before they even got in range the second time a Rifleman opened up on each of them. One was shot down and the second left giving off smoke. We had several troopers shot up and lost some equipment, but none of the Mechs were seriously damaged. That was the only interruption we had during the evening.

The six of us left as soon as it was light. We were several minutes ahead of the rest of the Battalion. By mid morning we were nearing the area that we were to check out and the terrain was rolling hills. As usual we walked around not over the hills. We didn't want to show ourselves before it was necessary. Just shy of noon we found them. They had pulled back several klicks from where we thought they were but they were there. I had been moving up on the left when I spotted them.

Using hand signals I had the others spread out along the front side of the hill and crept forward as quietly as I could. If you know how much noise a Mech makes you know that wasn't very quiet. I was still able to get much closer than I thought I would. Using the pen light on the computer display I marked the targets. This looked like a full Battalion. They had one Company mounted and hot and the other two were in two different assembly areas. Near them were several large tents that could house the pilots as both sleeping quarters and ready rooms. They had netting pulled over the entire area so that it wasn't visible from the air. It might show up on MAGs or on IR but not on eyeball.

I had split the support and Missile Mechs up and they were partnered like they had been against the tanks earlier. To each of these teams I indicated one of the tent areas as first target, then one I assigned to the Battalion headquarters and the other an assembly area. Guns and his crew were assigned the second assembly area and when I told them to shift to what looked like a vehicle yard. I held off giving the fire order until the Battalion got closer. Major White said they were ten minutes out. We had waited part of that time when it dropped into the bucket.

I had been watching the camp and the BattleMechs and not paying proper attention to the infantry. I was hit in the side by an Inferno round and the Lassy was engulfed in flames. "Fire," I yelled and swung to face the threat. It was a squad of infantry that looked like they were about to fire another round when I opened up with the machine guns. While my heat spiked from the inferno round I had not shut down and could still fire the machine guns which didn't produce much heat. Falling away from the impact of the bullets the missileer triggered the second shot. While the round landed in the middle of the netting and ignited it, it didn't do any damage to any of the Mechs that were about. It landed about the same time as the first flights of missiles arrived which really stirred up a hornet's nest.

"Major, we need help now. I got jumped by infantry and had to start the ball without you. Could you cut your coffee break and lunch hour short and get up here fast?" I called.

"I'll give you a coffee break!" she said and then to everyone she ordered, "All Mechs, double time."

In the assembly areas Mechs were falling over and it would take longer for them to be activated. That is the ones who had pilots. We had taken an awful lot of pilots and Techs out with the first salvo of missiles. When I finished off the few squad members I moved. So far all of the damage was coming from missiles and artillery so they didn't pay a lot of attention to me coming in from the side. I staggered forward to one of the assembly areas and fell over near two Mechs who had fallen across one another. Once I was down I crawled into the nice little nest they created for me and it gave me a lot of cover from most curious Mechs.

From this position I started to use the Artemis IV system. I was picking individual targets for the Missile Mechs to take out. I already had Guns shift to the vehicle yard and now had him shift to another ready area. Two salvos into it and I put him on the repair area. I was able to send him the targets all at once using the light pen on the computer display. I would just tell him to shift and he would move to the next one. That gave me time to keep my arm pointed at the target Mech for the missiles. I had just picked the next one to receive gifts from above when a Shadow Hawk began to pay more attention to me than I liked. I tried to feign a person who was just regaining consciousness and still very wobbly. It must have worked as he came over to give me an assist up. I put out my left hand and he took it and pulled. When I came up and had regained my feet I kept going. Pushing him as I did I swung the large laser up, into his armpit and fired. There's not a lot of armor there and I penetrated, taking out the arm. It just went limp. Still keeping it out of the way I fired again into the same area and he ejected. I was firing right into the torso where a Shadow Hawk has not only an engine but storage bins for both his long and short ranged missiles as well as the cannon shells. They didn't detonate but a third shot in the same location would have set them off and he didn't wait. As it fell over Major White and the rest of the Battalion came storming over the hill firing on any Mechs that were left standing.

I was still standing so I fell to my knees and over onto my side catching a lot of the weight on my left hand and easing myself down. From there I directed the Missile Mechs until the Battalion mixed too much and then called a cease fire for them. The Trebuchets were out of missiles by now anyway.

Guns and crew I shifted again to Mechs that were trying to scramble out of the area. I had them cease fire after a bit also as I couldn't see anymore. Specter was mixed up with the Pack and I couldn't tell anymore which were which.

Finally Major White called for a cease fire for Specter and then called for me to come out. "Ward, it's time to come out. I know you're in here somewhere so come on."

"Just don't back up, Major," I told her. She had moved right passed me and hadn't picked me out.

"How the hell did you get in this far? You should have been shot several times by now. You have to quit doing things like this. We need you as an FO not as another casualty."

"Yes, Ma'am. That Shadow Hawk there came over to investigate my behavior. I had to dissuade him from being so nosy. Ma'am, now would be as good a time as any to report, Missile team One scored three and team Two scored four. Artillery got four. Team One got an assembly area and so did the Artillery. I don't know what the count is there or at the repair area. I got one and you can confirm it."

"I'll confirm it and also credit the others with the numbers you reported. I'll let you know about the assembly areas later. We didn't face as many Mechs as I thought we would so there should be a lot of them there."

"Ma'am, our first target was the ready tents. A lot of pilots didn't get out to man their Mechs. I'd have the medics check them and the headquarters tents first. They were all targets. Hard to run a Mech with no pilot and it's hard to run a battle with no one to give the orders."

Acknowledging my suggestion the Battalion Commander turned to check on several other things that needed doing now that the battle was over. I trudged over the hill to rejoin the Artillery crew and pass on the word. A lot of the support people had stopped there to make camp. The mess tent was already up and they were trying to get something hot fixed and ready when the troops showed up. They had missed lunch as that was about the time the fighting had started. I was still with Guns twenty minutes later when I got a radio call to report to Major White at what was left of the enemy Headquarters tent.

When I got there all three Company commanders were there so I reported in a military manner. "Reporting as ordered Ma'am."