Shrapnel: Fragments from the Inner Sphere

The jolt of landing jarred Tracy's teeth even through the padding ot her helmet and her seal harness Damn! There goes the new paint job...

Her Mech. dubbed the Dutiful Daughter,had only recently been overhauled, refurbished, and painted in the mottled tans and yellow browns that would blend it into the desolate landscape of Shionoha. The gravel slope must have scoured the Daughterstorso down to gray metal.

She was up and moving again now, circling to the left and scrambling up the slope once more. She didn't want to reappear in the same spot. With luck, the enemy sniper would assume that he'd scored a fatal bull's eye on her Phoenix Hawkscockpit.

‘Skull Leader to Skulls,’ Grayson's voice barked. ‘They've seen us. boys! Watch it!’ Static hissed as PPC beams ionized air and deflected radio waves. The explosions nearby spoke of missiles loosed, of boulders shattered by arcing high explosives.

On her tac screen, four green blips scattered beyond the spaghetti tangle of contour lines marking the boulder field. The enemy 'Mechs were not visible, would not be visible until a friendly 'Mech got a clear fix on them and transmitted their positions over the tactical computer net. From the movements of Carlyle's 'Mech and the others, though, it was clear that they were taking fire.

Reason it out, girl,Tracy told herself, dark eyes narrowing in concentration behind the visor of her neurohelmet. The snipers must have assumed you were dead and swung around to the near side of the boulders to engage the Command Lance as it closed in.

The situation unfolded itself in her mind. The hidden enemy would have been waiting for them in a secure ambush among the boulders. They probably hadn't spotted the rest of the Recon Lance as yet, having seen none of the Gray Death Legion's 'Mechs beyond her own. She had been on point as the Legion wended its way into these barren, rugged hills. After the enemy had popped her, they must have realized they were being flanked and swung about to take the Gray Death's Command Lance. Right now, they would be above her, under cover on herside of the big boulder, with their backs to her.

Which meant that she should be able to take them by surprise.

How many enemy 'Mechs might there be? Tracy wondered. She had glimpsed only one. The fact that she had been under fire from a PPC and missiles did narrow the field of possible opponents somewhat. There just weren't that many BattleMechs mounting both particle cannon and missile racks. A Panther,possibly...

She nodded to herself. Yes. a 35-ton Panther,most likely. That was a Kurita favorite. Besides, the bad guys were not likely to post something as big and as expensive as a BattleMasterior rear-guard sniper duty out here in the wilderness. In her mind, the enemy had already made the transition from ‘they’ to ‘it.’ Assuming there was only one enemy 'Mech up there, it was probably a Panther.She should have no trouble taking it one-on-one with her 45-ton Phoenix Hawk.

Especially with the element of surprise. Tracy edged the Dutiful Daughterpart way up the loose slope, went into a crouch, then triggered her 'Mech's jump jets. White-hot plasma shrieked from the twin verniers set below her 'Mech's jets as the 'Mech straightened from its crouch and sailed skyward. The gravel slope blurred past her windscreen, and then the Hawkwas descending on ravening jets of flame, scattering gravel and raising a fresh cloud of dust. Her 'Mech took the shock of landing on partly bent legs as the Harmon heavy laser swung to cover a silhouette half-glimpsed against the largest boulder a hundred meters away. Even before her ID computer could bring up the target's name and tonnage, she recognized the enemy 'Mech.

A Griffin !She'd forgotten about Griffins!Ten tons heavier than her own BattleMech, slinging a Fusigon PPC like a rifle in its massive fists, and carrying a blunt, tubular LRM launcher across its right shoulder, an undamaged Griffin was more than a match for her own machine. Nor had her surprise been as complete as she'd hoped, for the Griffin was already spinning about, its PPC coming to the point.

Tracy bit off a curse and triggered her heavy laser. Coherent light stabbed into the heavier 'Mech's right side, scoring a black trail of scorched paint and hall-molten metal. The enemy PPC spat lightning an instant later. The blast caught the Dutiful Daughterfull in the chest and sent her staggering backward. While Tracy struggled to keep her 'Mech from tumbling back over the slope behind her, the electrical charge from the bolt spilled from her 'Mech in crackling forks that stabbed the ground around her. For a moment, her instruments went crazy as her charge shunts struggled with the massive overload.

Then she was moving again, circling right, her heavy laser snapping off a shot that melted rock and forced the Griffin to weave sideways out of her line of fire.

‘Skull Leader!’ she called, her voice taut with excitement and fear. ‘I'm back in the fight! Enemy Griffin behind the big rock!’

‘Back away.’ Carlyle's voice replied. ‘Pull back and take cover! We've got our hands full up here!’

A quick glance at her tac display showed the situation. There had been more than one ambusher. Four red pinpoints moved among the rocks now. surrounded by the loosely woven net of green. Three enemy 'Mechs among the boulders farther up the slope were engaging the Colonel's Command Lance as he tried to move down the hill. Behind her. the 'Mechs of the Gray Death's Fire Lance and the others of her Recon Lance were still hurrying forward, but too far...too far...

Another PPC bolt burned the air close to the Dutiful Daughter.She returned fire, burning deep into the armor above the enemy Griffinsright knee. The Colonel's order to pull out was lost in the surge of her own blazing need to strike back. She fired again, shifted, fired once more. The Griffinsnext shot struck air but carbonized the paint on her Mech's left pauldron.

Tracy knew that the duel could not continue much longer. Though the Griffin carried only slightly more armor than the Phoenix Hawk,its main weapon was heavier, able to give more damage to armor and to vulnerable internal wiring with each shot than her laser. The Dutiful Daughtermounted a pair of medium lasers as well, one set into the vambrace of each arm, side by side with paired heavy machine guns. She did not dare fire them at the same time as her heavy laser for fear of building up too much heat.

The Griffinhad only the PPC and its long-range missile rack. Though it could not do much with its missiles at this short range, that massive PPC would be more than enough to slag the Dutiful Daughterinto half-fused junk.

A bolt struck her. mangling her Hawksleft arm. Red lights flared across her console, warning of power loss to her right medium laser, of a jam to the machine gun mounted there. Her return fire missed.

She had to do something now!

Inspiration whispered through the roar of explosions as the Griffinsmissile salvo exploded around her. The key to this duel was range. Neither of the Griffinsweapons were as effective at extremely close range as her lasers. If she could close the range suddenly, yet stay out of the reach of those massive, metal-crumpling hands, she might have a chance.