"But I amserious," Theodore vowed. "As she may learn to her sorrow."
58
Greggville Province , New Mendham
Benjamin Military District, Draconis Combine
16 April 3039
"Shadow One to Tango Base, do you read?"
Davion Leftenant Roscoe Walker waited patiently for a reply. There seemed no need to worry; no one in his recon lance had seen a Kurita unit all morning. But that wasn't surprising. The High Command's strategy was based on overleaping the Kurita border planets to avoid their frontline units in the first invasion wave. This thrust into the Combine's Benjamin District was under the command of Duke James Sandoval, commander of the Draconis March. Two other thrusts were hitting the other districts on the Davion border. Federated Suns units were landing on more than twenty planets, striking deep to capture supply and communication centers, to isolate and confuse the Kuritan forces.
Only light resistance was expected at this stage, and so far the High Command was proved right. The burn in from jump point had been unopposed; the assault had caught the Dragon sleeping. Davion Light Guard Regimental Combat Team fighters had found few defenders in their path as they guided the DropShips into position for the orbital drop. The Guard 'Mechs had made planetfall hard and fast, scattering the still scrambling Kurita defense forces. The non-'Mech forces had landed safely. It had been a textbook assault.
Then Marshal Riffenberg's caution had come to the fore. Walker figured that the old man was worried about things going so well. The Marshal had ordered the AeroSpace Fighters pulled back into reserve, as a defense for the grounded DropShips and the landing zones, as well as to await a strike from hidden Kuritans. Reconnaissance was left to the swift 'Mechs of the Light Guards, including Walker's lance.
Walker keyed open the circuit to his lance. "Let's move up, people. Keep your sensors out. We're getting near target."
As the acknowledgments came in, Walker depressed the foot pedal, throttling his Hatchetmanto a fast trot. Twenty meters to his left, Alison's Hatchetmanmatched his pace. Walker knew that his forty-five-ton machine bobbed as much as hers, but the stabilized picture transmitted to his cockpit screens was steady, undisturbed by the motion of his 'Mech.
The other two 'Mechs of the lance were thirty-ton Valkyries,considerably faster than their partners. They were also more humanoid, despite massive shoulder assemblies and right forearms, which housed their Sutel IX lasers. The Davion 'Mechs were in the mottled greens-and -sand camouflage mandated for the open grasslands of New Mendham's savannah. Only the bright foxtails that Reed's machine sported, one on each of four antennae, allowed Walker to distinguish it visually from McCullough's 'Mech.
In ten minutes, they covered almost as many kilometers. The lance was still forty klicks from the Draconis town of Kempis when Walker transmitted the code for a halt. Trusting his command to scan the area, he tried again to contact Tango Base. Again, he got no response.
"Listen up, people. I still can't raise the base."
"Let's go in." Alison urged.
"It's too quiet," McCullough objected. "We should've seen some Snake troops by now."
"Don't overload your reclamation tubes, Bobby boy. You cadets spook too easy. The Snakes are more scared of us than you are of them."
"Ease off, Sergeant Alison. I'm sure you were nervous your first time out, too."
"Come on, Leftenant," Alison griped. "I dropped on St. Andre fresh out of the academy, right into a nest of Capellans. Now that was hot! The Capellans didn't go hide. They hit us before we'd even jettisoned our thruster packs.
Hellfire! Some of the Jocks were still shucking ablative shell."
"Save the war stories, Alison," Reed cut in. "If you were so hot, you wouldn't still be a Sergeant."
"I'm not stilla Sergeant, Newboy. I'm againa Sergeant. And it's not because of anything that happened in the field, unless it was the green-bottomed newboy I skinned for calling me a liar."
Walker shook his head, bemused by his lance's banter. He considered trying Tango Base again, but figured that if they hadn't answered two minutes ago, they wouldn't answer now. It was time to make a command decision. "All right. Damp the chatter. We've got a schedule to keep, so we're going in."
"Good choice, Leftenant."
* * *
Alison's Hatchetmanstalked ahead of Walker's own. Its long-crested head swung from side to side, a stoop-shouldered alien hunter searching for prey. Its right arm twitched, beating a rhythm in the air with the depleted uranium-edged blade that gave the 'Mech its name. Cross-streets gave Walker glimpses of the Valkyriesprowling a parallel course through Kempis. There were few signs of life. The Kurita civilians had mostly deserted the town or gone to ground in shelters. The Davion troopers saw only a few fleeting shadows in side alleys. None wore the tans of Draco soldiers.
Without warning, an UrbanMechin dark gray splinter camouflage suddenly burst through a brick wall a hundred meters ahead. Its domed, cylindrical body swiveled and its stumpy, broad legs scattered rubble as the 'Mech stepped clear of the building that had screened it from their sensors. The UrbanMech'sside-mounted Imperator-B autocannon spewed shell casings as it hosed a stream of projectiles at the advancing Guards.
Alison fired her 'Mech's jump jets, rising on ion flame to evacuate the path of the enemy 'Mech's fire. The maneuver simultaneously cleared Walker's line of fire. The Leftenant's thumb mashed down the firing stud on his right joystick as soon as the golden crosshairs of his targeting system slid onto the stubby enemy machine. The Defiance Killer autocannon in the Hatchetman'schest coughed out armor-piercing shells.
Chunks of Durallex armor blew explosively from the UrbanMech'sbarrel body. Smoke rose from the wounds and joined the billowing cloud of brick dust in obscuring the target. The Kurita Dragon on the 'Mech's dome was revealed to Walker as it shifted to bring its weapons to bear on him. Before the Draco could fire, Alison's Hatchetmanappeared from an alley thirty meters behind it. The Guard 'Mech raised both arms and loosed twin laser pulses. The ruby energy flooded the drifting dust cloud with incarnadine light, but in spite of the diffusion effect, retained sufficient energy to melt away armor on the Kurita 'Mech's leg and upper dome.
Walker ripped another burst into the Kuritan. Depleted uranium slugs tore through the remaining armor of the UrbanMech'storso, seeking its fusion heart. The Kurita 'Mech tottered under the assault. As it canted over, its dome blew free and spun away like a child's toy. The Kurita pilot rocketed clear, his chair disappearing over the surrounding roofline. The abandoned BattleMech crashed to the ground, bringing the rest of its former shelter cascading down around it.
Alison raised her 'Mech's hand weapon in salute before pivoting her Hatchetmanback down the alley from which she had emerged. "Tally ho!"
"Keep it cautious, Alison. We don't know what they've got here," Walker warned, knowing it was unnecessary. Despite her lower rank, Alison had seen more combat than he had. She could handle herself. The young Jocks in the Valkyrieswere his real concern. He opened the comm circuit. "Reed. McCullough. Switch to mag scan. You'll have a better chance that way to spot concealed Snakes. It'll be easier to pick up their metal masses than to spot a good camo job."