Mission 3[]
“Ok, Nomads, all that is left is us between the Blakists and the spaceport.” Said Captain Moser from his Blackjack. He was piloting the heavier 50 ton model of the mech. Packed with laser weapons and a PPC, it was a sturdy medium mech. “We know they have a full Level II inbound, so Lady Joy saw fit that a full Level II of Nomads meet them.”
The six Republic mechs stood behind a barrier that would normally serve the local garrison, should pirates have been trying to breach the spaceport. The Captain was facing them and the back side of the wall. A few blocks away, the enemy mechs were on approach. Finally, a Celestial was making an appearance, an Archangel. “We know at least one Celestial is out there. Be careful and judge your targets, there is a lot of armor on that mech, no matter the variant. Also, Lieutenant Hogan’s Awesome will be working with our attache Anvil to keep ECM cover over our forces. Each of our engagements with lackluster ECM coverage has been a disaster.”
Taking a second to let that part of the brief sink in, the turrets along the wall caught his eye. Each one emerged from the wall vertically, then bent down, to face away, toward the inbound Blakists. “Captain, this is squad Bravo, we have eyes on the enemy, just over one Kilometer out and closing, over.”
“Solid copy Bravo, Nomads en route.” He scanned his radar for a second to see the red at the top of his radar. Then he shifted focus back to his Mechwarriors. “You all know the plan, Awesome, Victor in the center. Anvil, wait and move aggressively when you come charging out, Medium mechs, keep under cover and keep moving. We are the descendants of the warriors that killed these Blakists, lets do it again!”
His Blackjack turned and accelerated to get into position on the right flank. The rest of his Mechwarriors began moving out as well, their cheers and warcries competing over the unit channel. He guided his Blackjack around the right end of the wall and forward, seeing some movement beyond some trees ahead, also seeing the Shadow Hawk and Wolverine pacing him closer to the center.
A white flash went off as the Nomad Victor sent a Gauss slug toward the Blakists from its covered position near a large building. Just ahead of the Victor, the Awesome slowly pushed forward, firing away with its paired Heavy PPCs. In return blue flashes came flying back at the Nomads, the Awesome taking some initial damage. Quickly though the Blakists discovered one of the Nomad force’s surprises, the enemy Perseus passed by some rubble that exploded, dealing damage to its left leg.
Ignoring the damage it kept moving. Then the Blakist Wolverine was hit by an explosion as it passed another pile of rubble as well. The Nomads could tell by the movement of the Blakists they immediately started staying away from the rubble. However, it seemed to enrage the Archangel as it took point and surged forward.
Keeping the pressure on, the Wolverine and Shadow Hawk ran right in to disrupt the Blakist line by getting point blank. Being so close, the C3I network wouldn’t even be beneficial, since the Anvil was attempting to catch up and its ECM wasn’t in range. Turning to the largest threat, the Shadow Hawk nearly alpha striked the Archangel, distracting it just enough that the Awesome could lend some support fire. Both Heavy PPCs slammed into the Archangel. However the Archangel answered in return, sending a pair of Light PPCs and its own heavy PPC, ripping off some of the Awesome’s armor.
By now though the Nomad Wolverine and Blackjack started laying weapons fire into the Guillotine. The Captain was planning for the bulk of the Nomads to hold the center while he personally helped break the right flank, but he was familiar what happens with plans and enemy contact. The Blakist Guillotine and Wolverine pushed forward together at the Blackjack and Nomad Wolverine. However, in surprise, the Shadow Hawk flanked around from the center and the Anvil came running into the fight, making it a 2v4.
A similar situation was unfolding in the center of the field as the Eidolon and Phoenix Hawk pushed up toward the Awesome, the Archangel in tow. Keeping up the big hits, the Awesome and Archangel shredded each other in huge volumes of PPC fire. To help the Awesome, Corporal Nemec had her Victor vaulted over the building she was using as cover, landing hard. She unleashed a wave of fire to deter the lighter Blakists mechs from coming closer. However, she was not alone, the turrets on the walls were adding their fire to the Nomad’s. A single Large Laser was each turret’s weapon.
Some beams were missing but, others were hitting. Even Bravo and Charlie infantry squads were getting some support fire in as the Blakists ignored them and continued to engage the mechs. Taking the brunt of the three mechs closest, Lieutenant Hogan’s Awesome took a fall, the huge mech slamming into the ground. Hogan could see the damage report on his HUD was not good.
On the right flank though, things seemed to take a positive turn as the Blackjack and Shadow Hawk teamed up on the Guillotine. At the same time the Anvil and Wolverine attacked the Blakist Wolverine. Under the wave of energy fire and spray of SRMs from the Shadow Hawk, the Guillotine took some bad hits. It seemed to slow down its movement, looking unstable as it started to backpedal.
Seeing the heavy mech starting to withdraw, Captain Moser gave the order, “Wolverine, Anvil, move to the middle, get some of the attention off Hogan and Nemec. You and me, lets hit this Wolverine, Corporal!” Shouted Moser to the Shadow Hawk pilot. Both of them engaged the Wolverine as it was backing up, toward a building. Under the wave of fire the mech began to lose balance, the center torso armor was completely melted and stripped away as SRM 2s from the Shadow Hawk were hammering it. As the Wolverine attempted to fire back it fell backwards into a building, crushing it, before the mech just stopped moving, waves of heat emerging from it as the engine was done for.
Both the Wolverine and Anvil came around the corner of a skyscraper that was crumbling to find a Perseus and Sagittaire but, they didn’t even hesitate as they let loose on the Perseus. Both of the Blakists fired back, tearing into the Nomads. Off to their left the Awesome rose once more, unleashing a brutal PPC blast into the Archangel, ripping off its left arm. Combined with support fire from the Victor, they were able to destroy the Heavy PPC in its right arm, leaving it with a VSP laser and Snub Nose PPC. Continuing to aid in the defense the turrets on the walls fired on the Blakists, some very welcome support.
From the rear shots of the Eidolon and Phoenix Hawk, they finally brought down the Awesome, one leg tore off at the hip, the other snapping off as the assault mech slammed into the ground. Unfortunately, Lieutenant Hogan lost control and was knocked unconscious in the fall. At that moment of losing the Assault mech, the Blakists turned their fire, razing some buildings to terrorize both the Nomads and the locals. Multiple buildings collapsed, one directly in front of Nemec’s Victor. Meanwhile, the retreating Guillotine took some shots at long range to bring down another building.
With the Blakist Wolverine down, now the Captain’s Blackjack and the Shadow Hawk could turn their attention to the center of the field. Two of the Blakist mechs were out of the fight and the Archangel only had two of its smaller weapons left. The Perseus and Sagittaire were tough but, the Nomads had the force of will. Both the Blackjack and Shadow Hawk turned towards the middle, to add their fire to the Nomad Wolverine engaging the Perseus.
The Anvil found itself going toe to toe in a losing fight against the Sagittaire, the much larger mech’s pulse weapons far outnumbering the Anvil’s pair of Large Pulse Lasers. Nemec had to be careful as she positioned her Victor, the Phoenix Hawk was coming about to interfere with the Perseus and the Wolverine. So, she backed up the Victor and took aim. The Gauss Rifle fired the huge silver slug, finding the cockpit of the Phoenix Hawk. The mech’s head just vanished into a spray of metal and components, falling to the ground.
It was then that both forces converged on each other, unleashing full volleys of fire and kicks, tearing each other apart. Both the Nomad Shadow Hawk and Anvil went to the ground hard, the Shadow Hawk’s engine ripped out from rear armor shots, while the Anvil lost its leg to the Sagittaire’s kick.
The Eidolon took some severe hits as well, both its engine and gyro taking critical hits, falling to the ground. The Perseus was about to go critical in a side torso and almost lost a leg, the internal structure barely holding together. Another wave of wall turret fire melted armor on the Blakists.
“Form up on me Nomads!” shouted the Captain over the open channel in an attempt to hurt the Blakists morale. “Bring down this Perseus, Nemec, get your Victor on that Archangel!”
However, a new voice presented itself, “Hold you fire, Nomad Republic! This is Adept Kato, you have taken the field, we will egress without another shot fired!” The Sagittaire raised its arm weapons as the universal sign of stopping combat.
“Very well Blakist, we accept those terms. Collect your warriors and depart with the mechs that can still walk.”
The three large Blakist mechs cautiously began to leave the field of battle. “Captain! We could have brought down both the Archangel and Perseus!” shouted an excited Nemec from her hardly touched Victor over the direct line.
“Yes, it is possible, however, there is a good chance we could have lost another two or three mechs and even the field. If that Sagittaire kept hitting with the pulse lasers, it would be bad, your mech is the only one with significant armor.”
“Yes, sir, I agree.” She responded calmly, recognizing the experience in the Captain’s words.
Returning to the unit channel, “Nomads, you did an excellent job here holding the field. This is our first victory since the ground fighting started, even though it is pyrrhic. Nemec’s Victor will remain in the center of the field keeping watch, let’s get our downed warriors and await recovery teams behind the walls, out.”
All three of the Nomad Mechwarriors breathed sighs of relief, that was a hard-fought battle and the first Celestial seen in decades. After about 30 minutes vehicles and crews began arriving to the field, collecting the destroyed mechs. A couple of relief mechs arrived as well. Even Lady Joy’s Doloire showed up, the 80 ton machine still painted in the wolf carcass and falcon talon trophies from her fighting on Terra in 3150.
“Captain, Nomads, you have done incredible work.” She said over the open channel. “Keeping this position has given us crucial days and hours to evacuate a huge number more of civilians. You have provided both our peoples a great amount of hope.”
Her HUD blipped as each Mechwarrior confirmed hearing her. Knowing how devastating the Word of Blake had been so far on Abbeville, she knew there was no shortage of tears of relief and happiness now that these Mechwarriors were realizing what they achieved today.
“Thank you, m’lady, those are kind words and encouraging to us all.” Said the Captain on behalf of his Mechwarriors.
>>Mission 2<<
>>Mission 4<<