Chapter 21

Leaving a Mech on each side of the block and the generators on we withdrew to the production plant. We made this our headquarters for the time being. From there I contacted the Colonel via our satellite linkup and let him know how we were doing, that we had captured all but the one Lance and what we had done to it. I also informed him that we had the production plant with minimal damage and that it was now our headquarters with our Dropships parked outside.

The Colonel told me that Milt Jacobs had found two of the other crashed Unions. There might be something that could be salvaged but it would take more work than he could expend right now. He had then headed towards the third controlled crash Union. The Colonel and Johnny Schultz were chasing after the two Unions that had landed normally. They were supposed to be in the heart of the city and they were now looking for them. When I told him the method I had used he looked dumb-founded. "I hadn't even thought of that. I'll try it, thanks Mick. You might want to place guards on the two Unions that landed and then head this way. Shouldn't be necessary but these guys are fighters."

I let him know that there was already Mechs guarding the drop site. I also said that what was left would be headed his way as soon as we could mount up.

I cheated. Oujda was the southern most of the three cities to be attacked. Said Amad, 680 kilometers northeast of us was where the Colonel was at present. With a Lance on the Snake Dropships, a Lance on the Snake Embassy and a Company and a Lance on the Production plant and our Dropships it only left a Company and my Command Lance. That is what I took. I left Jero Conn behind to command the guard detail and also took his Mech. There was a spare Marauder he could use if he didn't want to fly the Haggis. I like the Warhammer better than the Marauder so I had stolen his.

We only had a couple of hours to travel before dark but we pushed on until just before midnight. With infantry out on guard duty the pilots rested as much as they could in the short time available. At sunup we were again in the saddle and moving up the road for Said Amad. We were nearly half way when we had started this morning. J.J. and his scouts were five klicks ahead of us, then a squad of infantry two klicks ahead, us and the rest of the infantry a klick behind us.

Two hours after sunrise two fighters flew over us at a high altitude. "Phantom-6 from Blue-6, things are fine, just thought you might like some company for a while. Demon-6 told me several things to tell you but I don't think you can say them in mixed company."

I laughed as I knew some to the things Conn was likely to be calling me. "Thank you. Don't mind the company at all Blue-6." We continued on with eyes checking for enemy. When Phantom became a light Regiment we renamed the Battalions. Really what we did was keep the Company names for the Battalions and rename the companies. Jero Conn had Demon Battalion with Ghost, Shade and Spirit Companies. Bruce MacAmon had Wraith Battalion with Vision, Dream and Trace Companies.

Every two hours we stopped and dismounted. We needed to move around and get the blood circulating again if nothing else. During those times we would do what ever else we needed to do before mounting up and going forward.

Shortly after our second stop we entered some very dense woods. They seemed to go for miles. In fact when I checked with the air unit they said the forest stopped just prior to Said Amad. As thick as the woods were I didn't think that their MAGs would work too well so I sent them back. We kept on our way. The Colonel probably didn't need us but you could never tell.

We were about 150 kilometers from Said Amad when the infantry behind us came on. "6, we got something in the woods around us. Something big. We keep hearing trees being knocked over. Some of the noise is coming from behind us and some from in front of us. It's on our right. They should be near you shortly. We're gone!"

I yelled at the guys and we spread out to see what was there. We moved into the woods on both sides of the road and then froze. With MAGs and IRs turned up full we started to get flickers of movement approaching us from the southeast. At first I thought it might be Milt and his crew moving towards Said Amad but the IFF (Indicator, Friend or Foe) didn't respond with the correct signal. We had someone approaching us and it didn't look friendly.

We didn't have to wait long and we saw what we were facing. It was the two Companies of Mechs from the crashed Unions. Somehow they had gotten out and were now moving to link up with the units in Said Amad. Milt hadn't checked close enough to see if the Mechs were still aboard the crashed Unions when he had checked them out!

They had us in total numbers by half again but in total weight they were only about a third more than us. With the Scout Lance out ahead they were twice our number. However our larger Mechs could absorb more damage before stopping than their smaller Mechs. We let them approach until we had clean shots on them and then we fired. My first shots opened the chest on a Hunchback. This close in those little Mechs would be deadly. I put my second volley into her again and she went down. After the second volley I signaled for a withdrawal. We'd need to sting them and sting them until they stopped. A group this size could do all kinds of damage if they caught our guys by surprise.

I triggered another volley towards a second Hunchback. Brushed her leg with one blast and took out the tree beside her with the second. We stopped three, my Hunchback, a Panther and a P. Hawk and injured a bunch more. We had caught them by surprise and we had escaped with only minor armor damage.

After withdrawing a couple of klicks we spread out to hit them again. I was having trouble getting through to J.J. and his scout group. Just normal interference from all these trees. I did reach the infantry scout unit and they relayed. I wanted him and his group to go into the woods to the northwest and wait. After everyone had passed them they were to fall in behind and keep them in sight, relaying as much information as they could.

At 300 meters, just before they got into range for the mediums and those AC-20 we opened on them again. Again we only fired two volleys and withdrew. I got a left leg and a left arm hit on another Hunchback. Before I could fire on her a second time a Panther stepped in the way and I triggered into it. This time it was a left torso and left arm hit. I don't think any of my shots did more than mess up armor. The Panther hit me low in the right side. My hits must have twisted him off target.

Chris Flynn, Paul Wallace and Frank Anderson each took down one this round. A Hunch, a Griffin and a Shadow Hawk. However this time we paid for it. Leroy Bennett in a Griffin and Kevin Rogers in a Wolverine were both shot up pretty bad. They were out of the fight and I sent them on ahead as fast as they could travel, which in their condition wasn't very fast. I told them to keep going when we stopped the next time and get on the road so that their speed could increase. They wouldn't be dodging trees any more. Several others were missing armor but could continue the fight.

This time we withdrew five klicks before stopping. I wanted to keep them guessing and also give J.J. and his group a chance to work around behind them. If this was in fact the An Tings they had some heavies that we hadn't seen yet. We needed to know where they were. It wouldn't do for them to be flanking us.

This time they came on very cautiously. They had scouts out and were making standard infantry advances with one Mech covering the other. Our camouflage paint scheme was working better than theirs. The trees were blocking the MAGs and IRs so we had to depend more on eyeballs and motion detectors. As we were holding still there was no motion for them to detect. We caught them in the middle of a move. I fired on the cover Mech while Frank fired on the advancing Mech. They both had prior damage. We put both of the P. Hawks down. We both then switched to Mechs further back. I got another hit on a tree and an arm hit on a Griffin. Again after the second volley we backed up.

Two more Hunchbacks, a Griffin and another S. Hawk went down in addition to the two P. Hawks. The hits were starting to mount up. Damage that they had taken earlier was now starting to tell. Our damage was starting to mount up also. We all had been tagged a time or two. So far our heavier armor was allowing us to stay in the fight while we were putting down more of them. We still hadn't seen the Warhammers and the Marauders.

We were in the middle of the move when broken traffic came in. It was soon followed by the infantry squad relaying. "Phantom 6 from Phantom 5, Ambush. Wheel north now. Lookout, two 'Hammers, two Marauders and two Panthers. We caught them while they were finishing off Rogers and Bennett. We got back shots on them and the Panthers are down. We need support."