Valiant Company: New Planet, Same Pirates
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Mining Facility A-19
Ispahsalar System
Chaos March
September 15th, 3062
"All Noble elements, This is Noble-Actual. Sound off." Captain Mason Tombs said into his throat mic as he settled into his harness.
"Noble-2 here, in position, all systems nominal." Came Dallen's even-tempered yet perpetually nervous voice from half a kilometer to Mason's front-right; he was well-hidden inside a large crater, with only the Rifleman's big targeting fin poking out to provide telemetry data. "Horn elements are posted up, too..."
"Noble-4 here! Horn elements are revving to go, and so am I!" Michael's accented lilt came over the radio loud and clear; Mason could just imagine his hand reflexively gripping the throttle of his Locust as he hid in a well-concealed cavern a kilometer to his front-left.
"Just make sure you're not spotted." He reminded the eager, and newest addition to Valiant Company. "Noble-3? You good?"
"Noble-3... ready." Wilmon's emotionless tone finally came through, belying the danger he was going to be in for this plan to work, as his Charger stood inert in the middle of the crater-strewn field that lead up to the mining station.
It had been about 3 years since ValCo had been formed in 3059, and this was definitely the most high-stakes contract they'd taken yet, but Mason thought they were ready for it. Starting with only a handful of mechs and a hodge podge of tanks and infantry, the old mercenary had been mostly keeping them to low-risk escort and garrison contracts as he trained the fringe-worlders into a proper unit, and they worked to bulk out their strength a little in between the occasional defensive skirmish for experience. Now, with the addition of Michael to pilot the salvaged Locust and some more experience under their belts, he had finally decided to go for something bigger.
"Supervisor Minna!" Mason then said after switching channel; he could see the man standing next to Wilmon's Charger on the pockmarked moonscape. "Are your people ready?"
"Y-yes, Captain... we are all in position." The mining station overseer said; it was impossible to read his body language through the space suit he wore, but his voice was racked with anxiety. "My workers have prepared the ground, and all personnel are now taking shelter as you directed... we are ready." It sounded like he was trying to convince himself of that fact.
Ispahsalar had been a hub of endo-steel and ferro-fibrous armor manufacturing back during the days of the Star League, attracting all kinds of pirates which had been dealt with by the SLDF. That infrastructure had decayed during the Succession Wars, but with the rediscovery of lostech that was starting to change... and with it, the pirates had returned. the 2nd Star League had relegated units to once again protect this vital infrastructure, but with war looming and that short-lived coalition in disarray, those units had been withdrawn. Now, the Ispahsalari turned to a different source of military might: mercenaries.
"Good." Mason acknowledged the man as he flipped his Marauder into low-power mode, and crouched down behind the warehouse he was using as cover. "Here they come. All elements button up."
Off in the distance, the bright plumes of a dropship's propulsion engines were coming into view as they decelerated the craft towards the surface of Ispahsalar's moon, where this meeting was to take place. The plan was simple enough: the local government had invite the Pirates here for the prospect of a negotiated tribute, for which the starting bid would be an Assault Mech; a rare prize indeed for low-life criminals like these. In fact, the mech they had been promised was actually Wilmon's Charger, which was why it was standing out in the open... but no one had thought to inform them that Wilmon himself was currently inside the cockpit, nor the rest of the Mercenary Company lying in wait for them.
As he watched the dropship, close enough to now be IDed as a modified Leopard class of some kind, Mason's eyes drifted upward, beyond it. According to his Mech's computer, the sol system's sun should be visible from this angle... somewhere... He wondered which one of those dazzling, twinkling lights it was. He had never been to Terra, of course, but it suddenly occurred to him that Ispahsalar was the closest he'd ever been to it since his temporary retirement from the mercenary life. For that matter, it was the farthest in-sphere anyone of the people in the unit from their little backwater homeworld of Gulch, making up the majority of them, had ever been.
He sighed, shaking his head as he got back to business. "Alright everyone, you know the plan. Clear the airwaves, wait for the signal."
He received acknowledgments across the board before the rest of Valiant Company's ambush force went radio silent just as the Leopard touched down about 5 kilometers from the location, making sure they would not pick up any suspicious comms traffic. Silently, Mason switched over to another radio frequency... in order to quietly listen in on what was about to happen.
Over the radio, he heard Supervisor Minna clear his throat. <<"H-hello! To whom do I speak...?">> The highest-ranking official here at A-19, Minna had probably been selected for this because anyone higher would not be expendable, in case it all went wrong. But considering the mine supervisor was out there, completely at the pirates' mercy, and Mason wasn't, he had old Mechwarrior's respect. Either way, the radio frequency, which had been specified to the pirates by the government in their message for the purposes of communication when both sides were sealed in from the vacuum, remained silent for a moment. Then, Mason's command console chirped as Wilmon's Charger detected incoming signatures out on the grey moonscape.
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J. Edger Hover Tank
Half a dozen fast-moving hovercraft, three J. Edgars and three Savannah Masters, shot over a ridge which blocked Mason's sight of their dropship landing area; they were airborne for quite some distance in the low-gravity environment of the moon, and as they landed again their rear-mounted engines kicked up plumes of fine dust behind them. These fast-movers were what made the pirates such a pain to deal with; they could land anywhere on Ispahsalar, hit their target and be back in orbit again before the local PDF, who had neither the mechs nor men to cover every target of value, could arrive to engage them, especially the orbital facilities.
Now they were very obviously being used as an intimidation strategy as the six hovercraft skidded around Supervisor Minna and the Charger from either side, obscuring them from view in a cloud of dust, which they continually produced as they continued circling the mech. This somewhat disrupted Mason's connection to the Charger, but not enough to stop it; to his credit, Wilmon made no reaction to these moves, refusing to give away the trap.
Now the radio frequency was filled with the whoops and hollers of pirates enjoying their job very much... until, as one, all 6 craft went silent and stopped cold in a rough circle around the meeting place. And as the dust began to settle, Wilmon's proximity sensors suddenly picked up a new contact: a Panther, a 35-ton Light Mech painted in flamboyant orange and black colors, same as the hovercraft and Leopard, now stood no more than 20 meters from the Charger.
Mason scoffed with a slight grin at the theatrics; that must be the pirates' leader. And if they were bringing out their mechs to this party, that must've meant their 2 other mechs, a Commando and a Centurion according to Ispahsalari intelligence, would be back guarding their dropship. The locals would have to deal with that; ValCo had been contracted to take care of their leader.
"I'm Colonel Harold Vancid." The Panther pilot finally announced over the radio; the mech's head made a show of looking back and forth across the otherwise-empty terrain. "This is the reception I get?"
"I... I was told you had already agreed to the terms..." Minna stammered; the intimidation tactics were clearly working on him, and although Mason had no line of sight on the man, he could imagine him glancing up at the Charger's cockpit nervously. "T-this is just a pick-up... yes?"
The self-styled "Colonel" Vancid laughed. "I suppose so... provided you meet my demands."
<<"...what are those?">> Minna asked, no doubt painfully aware his small space-suited form could be crushed by the big Battlemech in an instant, potentially before Wilmon could do anything to stop it.
"Your annual tribute to us is... insufficient for my needs." Vancid said. "Something more akin to 20 million is more appropriate, I feel."
Mason didn't need to see Minna's face to hear his face blanch white at the casual double of the agreed annual sum.
<<"B-but that's... you can't possibly expect us to pay...">> He stammered, but then paused; it was at that moment he seemed to recall that he wasn't entirely defenseless here as Mason heard the anger rising in his voice. "...damned malfing pirate! You and your ilk are going to pay for this!"
Mason had to admit, the man was brave. Vancid replied with more laughing as his Panther took a step closer and a suited-up crewman from one of the hovercraft hopped out to approach the Charger, likely intent on being it's new pilot. "Is that right? Well, Supervisor, I think I'll be taking your mech now. Your services in this negotiation are no longe-"
It was at that moment that Wilmon struck. Mason heard the faint sound of proximity warnings in the Pirate Colonel's cockpit as the combat feed from the Charger showed one of the mech's fists raise, shoot forward and impact the Panther square in the chest. Caught completely unaware and about to step on Supervisor Minna, Vancid's mech was sent flying backwards through low gravity before landing several dozen meters away in a cloud of dust.
The pirates seemed to freeze for a moment as the horror of what was happening set in; Mason didn't, switching frequencies to ValCo's combat channel.
"Fight's on, Valiant! All units engage!" He roared as his Marauder came to full power and rose from it's hiding position behind the nearby warehouse. "Minna, hit the deck!"
The man didn't need to be told twice as he dropped to the moon's surface, and Wilmon's Charger marched forward with new life; he stepped on the prospective pirate MechWarrior without a second thought as he advanced again on Vancid's Panther. finally, the surrounding hovercraft seemed to be knocked out of their collective trance and they began to open fire on the assault mech, but at that moment the rest of the mercenary force entered the action.
Mason achieved target lock on one Savannah Master as it darted in behind Wilmon, and fired both his ER PPCs; one struck true, ripping a gash down the craft's side, before Mason finished it off with a burst from his LB-5X Autocannon. elsewhere, Dallen emerged from his crater, opening with his Rifleman's AC/5s before switching to his large lasers, tagging a J. Edgar and causing it to flip end-over-end. Sweeping out of the crater behind him came a pair of Valiant Company Pegasus hovertanks, who quickly rushed forward to join the fray, medium lasers stabbing out at targets.
"Horn-1, Horn-2, get to the Supervisor!" Dallen ordered his Hovertanks as he advanced behind them, even as he took an SRM to the leg and pivoted to deal with a marauding J. Edgar.
With more enemy targets now closing on their sides, the pirate hovercraft were thrown into disarray; some turned to face the new threat, others were simply dead, and yet more chose to run. This was a bad idea, as Michael suddenly manifested in front of them with his Locust and another pair of Pegasi; volleys of lasers and SRMs swiftly cleaned up another pair of hovercraft.
"Splash 2, haha!" Michael yelled in triumph as he closed to backdoor on the pirate force, isolating them from their dropship. "Dallen! Wheel up here and we'll finish these guys off!"
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Panther Light 'Mech
Wilmon, meanwhile, was focused on only one enemy: Colonel Vancid's Panther. A cloud of obscuring dust kicked up by the mech's impact marked where he was, and the Charger, now at a run, bowled right into it. Mason checked the feed from his command console in time to see the flash of the Panther's PPC stagger the big assault mech, but it wasn't enough to stop Wilmon, who shot back with his battery of small lasers before punching out again with his fists.
But Vancid's more nimble machine dodged these attacks and returned the favor with SRM fire; Wilmon was undeterred, still closing the distance at a run. And that was when Colonel Vancid made his fatal mistake, as he turned and activated his jump jets.
The Panther rocketed off the moon's surface, it's legs racing past the Charger's waste... just as Wilmon got inside grabbing range. He wasted no time as one of his hand actuators opened and reached out, snagging the Panther's leg. The Assault Mech immediately strained as the Panther was caught in the air, attempting to break free as it's jump jets singed the Charger's arms. He responded by simply tightening his grip, causing one of the leg-mounted jump jets to break and wink out.
After another second, the jump jets began to lose power, and Wilmon knew that now was his moment. Widening his mech's stance, he rose his arm, over his shoulder, and brought the tiny Panther crashing down to the ground with a monumental thud that was felt by everyone for kilometers around. Then Wilmon hefted the Panther's limp leg again, hauled him over his shoulder once more and slammed him down into the grey dirt on the other side.
Somehow, even though the mech's frame was by now badly bent and completely shattered in places, one arm still attempted to bring the mech up to a knee. Wilmon was having none of that though, as the Charger planted one big foot on the mech's back, leaned in, and punched Colonel Vancid's head cockpit over and over and over until it was nothing but scattered bloody electrical components on the ground. The pirate leader was very dead.
The remaining pirate hovercraft were all destroyed or disabled by now, as Mason finished the last holdout with his ER medium lasers. Weapons fire soon ceased.
ValCo had taken some damage, but nothing debilitating. Horn-1 and -2 reported that they had secured Supervisor Minna; he was shaken, but alive and well. Horn-5, the unit's infantry support, also reported no injuries to the civilians and mine workers they had been tasked to safeguard in the facility proper. An overwhelming victory... but the day wasn't over yet.
After checking the command console for the positions of his Lance, Mason keyed his radio. "Dallen, Michael, you're closest to the ridge. Take Horn-2 through -4 and go scope out the pirate dropship. Let's see if our Ispasahlari mech support held up their end..."
"Aye, sir!"
"Yes, sir!"
- Wiki Editor's Chapter Note
- Story is set in a non-canon world which was once part of the Terran Hegemony, which essentially fell off the maps until the 31st Century.
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