| Two Sides | |
| Facts | |
| Author | MightyBolamite |
| Series Name | Mighty's Single Sinkers |
| Alternate Universe Name | |
| Year Written | January 15th, 2026 |
| Story Era | Late Dark Age |
Description[]
Two Sides is a supply raid being conducted in the Free Worlds League by forces of House Liao.
Story[]
Avellaneda
Clan Protectorate, Free Worlds League
December 8th 3140
Heat settled oppressively in the cockpit as Jiahan pushed his Mech to sprint through the thick underbrush. It wasn’t actually a full sprint, because the Anubis was built to be such a fast Mech, but he was pushing through the undergrowth much faster than most any other Mech would be able to.
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Anubis Light 'Mech
Jiahan had 5 more minutes to make his designated checkpoint. The Anubis was running its full complement of stealth systems and the Mech jock had several imaging overlays active on multiple screens. Crashing through trees would be inevitable in a 30 ton war machine in the dead of night, but Jiahan was still trying to be as careful, yet swift, as he could.
He made the checkpoint with 46 seconds to spare, taking a moment to do a sensor sweep of the surrounding wilderness. No signs of the Clanners here, just as the flyovers had reported. Jiahan locked in coordinates for where his Pai-zhang had decreed the Thunders be deployed.
That’s how Ban-zhang Jiahan Feilong found himself out here alone, at night, in a stealth armor equipped Anubis with its single ton of Long Range Missile bin loaded with Thunder ammunition. This pass was the only direct route the Clan Protectorate forces could use to flank their LZ. The Chancellor, in his divine wisdom, had ordered Jiahan’s brothers to raid the planet of Avellaneda for supplies. An aerospace scout had spotted a small force of defenders making their way toward where the Warrior House had landed the precious Dropship in a flank designed to cut the main force from their supplies; which was why Pai-zhang Andrzej Mollo-Brown and Jiahan had been given orders to intercept and crush their opponents.
Andrzej was convinced that their small force would be enough to stop the Clan flankers here on this ridge, but wanted this pass to be mined. The only option they had on hand with the stopping power to even get the attention of a BattleMech was the Thunder LRMs.
Heat spiked in the cockpit as four LRM launchers fired at once, the night sky lighting up with twenty missiles that cut through the darkness. Every missile hit its intended target successfully, which wasn’t too impressive since Jiahan was targeting the ground. The special munition deployed mere meters from the surface, using the propulsion of being launched to bury into the ground and deploy pressure traps that were tied directly to the warhead.
Again and again Jiahan fired, skin breaking out in a sweat as heat peaked and slowly bled in between the reload cycles. The MechWarrior was thorough, making sure all the marked positions were precisely struck by the missile-deployed mines. Finally, his ton was depleted of all missiles. Satisfied that his mission was complete, Jiahan turned tail and took a circuitous route back to their operating base.
He was eager to get far enough away to deactivate the stealth systems that his Mech boasted. They were great at obscuring him from enemy sensors, but ran hot. Catching some shuteye was also appealing, since he knew their force would be facing off against Clan warriors in the morning. As it stood, Jiahan would only have about 5 hours to attempt to wrest some rest from the universe, but he was a Dai Da Chi warrior and had operated on less.
He was roused from sleep by Tolin, who was much gentler than the Pai-zhang would’ve been; she merely punched him in the shoulder. Immediately snapping from rest, the Mechwarrior began to don his gear.
“You got those mines out?” Tolin asked, not having been awake after Jiahan had come in from his mission last night.
“Yes, just as the Pai-zhang commands. So don’t lose your map.” He teased her lightly. Tolin piloted a Tian-zong and was notoriously bad with directions.
She hit him again for the jest.
They left the spartan barracks, little more than a tent with cots, and made haste to their respective Mechs. Pai-zhang Andrzej was already waiting for them next to his own Lao Hu. The spotlight from the squat heavy Mech was centered on the tall man as the two MechWarriors approached in the early pre-dawn darkness.
Both of the arrivals bowed to their superior officer, hand clasped over their chest, at the acceptable social range.
“Feilong, Pham.” The Pai-zhang addressed, his tone soft and light. “I trust you are prepared. To your Mechs, we must repel the Clan strike team.” He paused and looked over his two subordinates. “Do you have any last minute concerns?”
“No.” Jiahan replied quickly.
Tolin hesitated, and both men waited for a moment for her to find the voice to her words.
“Is… it true that the Clan Cats can see the future through visions?”
Andrzej shook his head ruefully. “No. That is merely propaganda based on their strange beliefs. Only the Celestial Wisdom has the power to peer past the veil of tomorrow.”
All three warriors bowed their heads and spoke as one. “May his wisdom guide us.”
“Are there any more, pertinent, concerns?” Pai-zhang asked with a touch of impatience and a raised eyebrow at Tolin.
She shook her head.
“I would hope that a MechWarrior of Dai Da Chi would be able to answer her commanding officer.”
Tolin snapped to attention, fist crossed over her chest in military precision. “Yes, Pai-zhang! No further questions, Pai-zhang!”
Andrzej nodded his head. “To your Mechs.”
The MechWarriors scrambled up the ladders hanging from their respective Mechs. Jiahan slipped into his Anubis, donned his heavy neurohelmet, and began the startup sequence for his light machine. The Ceres Motors 240 rated extralight fusion engine purred from within the fast scout Mech. Readouts filled the screens inside, defaulting to Jiahan’s preferences. He checked his single ton of ammunition, and was pleased to see the techs reloaded the full complement of missiles while he had been asleep. They were standard warheads this time, which were more useful in a head-to-head sortie.
Andrzej led them in his Lao Hu. The local star rose quickly on Avellaneda, revealing the beautiful green forest that this part of the planet was known for. They marched for a few hours to their ambush destination. Jiahan didn’t recall the travel time being so long, but then he wasn’t forced to march at the mind-numbingly slow 48 kph which was the fastest walking speed that Tolin’s Tian-Zong could reach.
That and the heart-pounding adrenaline that resulted from a solo, high-speed stealth mission with no support in the middle of the night.
At least this time, with two other Mechs and three tanks, he didn’t have to run his stealth armor until they were likely to engage the enemy. Tolin’s towering Tian-Zong also mounted stealth armor, a marvel in electronic defense. Despite what the name may suggest, stealth armor did not make the Mech invisible to the naked eye. Instead, it made use of a whole electronic countermeasure suite mounted in the Mech in order to power circuits threaded throughout the protective armor to baffle enemy sensors. The Tian-Zong used its stealth armor to make return fire more difficult for opponents upset about the two shoulder mounted Mydron Concussor Gause Rifles that the 75 ton Mech could use to put accurate ferro-nickel slugs into targets very far away.
In contrast to the Anubis’s speed and the Tian-Zong’s unrelenting long range firepower, Andrzej piloted a 75 ton Lao Hu that worked best at mid to close ranges. Though a single, fifteen tube rack of Long Range missiles and a Martell Extended Range Large Laser comprised two of its three weapon systems, the Lao Hu’s true firepower took the form of a terrifying Shengli LB 20-X autocannon that made up its entire right arm.
The Dai Da Chi forces were joined by two Harasser Missile Platform hover tanks for scouting and flanking quickly and a Po II Heavy Tank. The Po II just about matched the Lao Hu for terrifying close range firepower, bringing an Ultra Autocannon 20 with supporting weapons.
“Destination on sensors.” The Pai-zhang said over comms, his voice betraying nothing but calm professionalism. “Begin to move to designated waypoints. Mind the mines. Wait for my signal.”
Clear. Simple. Concise. Exactly how a Dai Da Chi commander should give orders.
Jiahan turned on the stealth armor, instantly seeing a spike in the heat his Mech generated. He could tell from the way Tolin’s friendly marker on the sensors wavered that she had done the same. They both had, largely, long range weapons, and took their designated positions that gave them clear lines of fire into the pass. Andrzej blocked the sight to his Lao Hu with a particularly dense growth of trees. The Po II took up a similar, but mirrored position while the Harassers moved up closer to the pass itself and dimmed their sensor output as much as they could.
Now Jiahan had to play a long waiting game in his sweltering cockpit. Waiting was always the worst part of combat, a slippery slope into sloppiness that many warriors have fallen into. Luckily, they were veterans of rigorous Dai Da Chi training and could withstand hours of tedious waiting in service to the Celestial Wisdom.
Hours of vigilance had yielded nothing; at least until one of the Harasser crews reported in.
“Pai-zhang! Contact approaching! Hover vehicle!”
There was a moment's pause, no doubt long enough for their Pai-zhang to assess and plan. “They have yet to commit with Mechs. Fall back to these coordinates. Let’s draw them in before we reveal ourselves.”
The affirmative response was drowned out by the sound of explosions.
“Clan forces have detected our mines and are using their munitions to destroy them!” The scouting crew gave the update before they could be asked.
Jiahan winced at the sound of another explosion sounding through the trees. There was part of him that was upset that they were simply shooting all his hard work from last night, but the rational part justified that those were rounds not being shot at his comrades.
“Continue falling back.” Pai-zhang commanded. If Andrzej was upset that the opposing forces had detected the mines and were clearing them, he gave no indication.
The sensors on the Anubis pinged something for a second, and Jiahan’s whole body tensed in response. But the blip disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
“Pai-zhang!” It was the Harasser again. “Enemy Sortek. It spotted me as I was weaving to the marked point.”
Jiahan’s hands tightened around his controls as he anticipated the enemy appearance on his sensors soon. He itched to utilize the Anubis’s biggest asset; its speed. He stayed still, however, for the sake of his orders.
“Feilong,” Until his orders were no longer to stay still. “Take a wide angle through the pass to see if you can spot them. Full speed.”
“Yes sir.” He grinned to himself in the already warm cockpit. The Anubis’s throttle was pushed to its maximum of nearly 130 kph. It was a marvel, a thrilling, adrenaline-fueled marvel, to watch the trees zip by at those speeds in a 30 ton warmachine.
Just like the Pai-zhang commanded, Jiahan came at the pass at an angle. The Anubis was lightly armored and would not be able to take much fire so he needed to be able to disengage quickly. The blazing speed of the light Mech along with the stealth system all contributed, but what would keep him alive most would be breaking any sort of line of sight from the Clanners.
The fusion reactor hummed beneath him as he pushed the machine. The barrel-like torso of the Anubis twisted, pointing sensors at the pass as well as the four LRM launchers housed in the large towers on either side of the torso.
He had sight on the other side of the pass for a full twenty six seconds. At seven seconds, he spotted a humanoid shape. The computer identified it as a Tempest at nine seconds. Ten seconds was all that was needed for the Clan pilot to fire his large pulse laser at Jiahan. Thankfully, it hadn’t been able to fully lock on and the laser ripped apart trees in front of the speeding Anubis. A snap shot at twelve seconds of only two of the LRM launchers that the Dai Da Chi machine carried unleashed ten missiles into the air, though Jiahan didn’t track if they hit or not. Two, high powered PPC blasts churned up dirt and splintered trees after sixteen seconds. Jiahan’s eyes snapped to the area where the manmade lightning had come from. He saw the massive, humanoid-ish form of a Warhammer at twenty seconds and made the tactical decision to cut the short, probing action even shorter. The computer beeped at twenty three seconds, identifying the Mech as a Warhammer IIC. As he sprinted away, at twenty five seconds, fifteen long range missiles lifted out of the trees and streaked toward where the small Anubis had been.
Jiahan’s heart pounded as he angled away and down from the pass. During the brief exchange, he’d almost forgotten that he needed to report his findings. He triggered the comm system with a chin toggle in his neurohelmet.
“Pai-zhang, multiple contacts. Two Mechs: a Worlds’ Tempest and a Clan Warhammer IIC. Something else with missile launchers also fired. I am unscathed.”
“Well done.” The comms clicked off and Jiahan could practically hear his commanding officer mulling over the information in his mind. Both of those machines were hard-hitters and tough to take down. Plus, those were all that Jiahan had seen; there was no telling what else the opposing force had brought that was still hidden.
After what felt like a long time for the Anubis pilot, but was really only a few seconds as he maneuvered around the mines he had set, Pai-zhang Andrzej broadcast to the entire Dai Da Chi force.
“Harasser platforms, strafe forward and try to draw their forces to us.”
The two commanders in their hovercraft signalled the affirmative and leapt forward. Jiahan focused on checking his system as he moved back into his position. Just a few moments passed before the Harassers radioed back.
“Battle Armor! And they’ve got-” Static cut the rest off and Jiahan had to check his IFF computer as well as the visual screen to see if the brave vehicle had been lost.
“Damn!” Thankfully, the hover platform was still functional, but was spewing smoke as it made a hasty retreat with its comrade back toward the Mechs.
“We're hit, but still working!”
“Pai-zhang, they have heavy tanks.” The other Harasser reported.
“Did they take the bait?”
“Unknown, sir. Our sensors lost them among the trees.”
“Very well.
We will hold these positions. They seek to get through us and we have the terrain advantage. Be ready.”
Each warrior responded with their own version of an affirmative; and they waited. Jiahan fidgeted uncomfortably in his command couch. Sweat beaded in the small of his back from the excess heat that was produced from running his stealth armor. He could see Tolin swinging the torso of her massive Tian-Zong in an attempt to give her sensors the best shot at finding the incoming enemies that she could; preferably before the Dai Da Chi forces were spotted themselves.
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Tempest Heavy 'Mech
The Clan forces must have realized that the Capellans meant to wait them out, because the next thing Jiahan knew, a Tempest had used its jump jets to climb up one side of the pass between the mountains and fired its arm mounted weapons at Andrzej. The Lao Hu took the brunt of the hard-hitting long range weaponry, losing enough armor to make the Pai-zhang lurch to the side.
At the same time, a massive Warhammer IIC appeared on the opposite slope and unleashed both its clantech PPCs. A single blast of pure energy shattered the armor plating from the housing of one of the Tian-Zong’s shoulder mounted Gauss Rifles. To her credit, Tolin returned fire, but her firing solution was spoiled from the massive loss of armor. The Clan Warhammer backed up, disappearing behind the swell of earth.
Jiahan managed to get a firing solution on the retreating Tempest and unleashed ten of his long range missiles. It didn’t appear that any of his munitions found their mark, splashing harmlessly into the dirt.
Pai-zhang Andrzej tried to advance after the devastating attacks, but the Clanners had uncharacteristically retreated before he had fully recovered.
“These Clan warriors aren’t fighting like the briefing said they would.” The comment came out over the comms before Jiahan could think better of it. He saw the Lao Hu stutter for a microsecond and realized he had earned the ire of his Pai-zhang.
“Hit and fade tactics are not something they tend to practice, that is true.” Andrzej said slowly in an unnervingly calm timbre. “We need more information. Feilong, advance at full speed and scout out the opposing force.”
The MechWarrior sighed despite himself. While it was true that he was in a scout Mech, the Anubis wasn’t built to take much fire at all. Pai-zhang Andrzej was right too, they needed more information in order to make a better informed decision. Jiahan just wished that it didn’t mean putting his ass over the fire.
Once more he throttled up the speed on the Anubis to maximum, watching the trees blur together beside him. The stealth armor remained on, since it would do a fair amount to keep incoming fire from hitting his lightly armored Mech, though it did have the side effect of limiting his own sensors. Even then, he had them cranked up to maximum, since he knew he was looking for battle armor.
The Anubis crossed the invisible line the forces had drawn and instantly felt eyes on him. He started to weave the 30 ton Mech through the trees in a more erratic pattern, hoping to throw off any computers attempting to lock onto him. He was practically on top of the Gnomes by the time he saw them. Small lasers lanced out as he sped past them and their armored carrier. The few that hit did minimal damage to his legs. With a few quick keystrokes, their locations were logged on the battle map for his fellow Dai Da Chi.
A klaxon let him know that something had attempted a missile lock on the speedy Anubis. Long range flights arced toward him as Jiahan marked the location of a Sortek on the map as well. He turned his feet to follow the path of the LRM flight that had churned up a large stretch of dirt around him and almost ran right into a Tokugawa tank. Jiahan had enough time for his eyes to widen with shock and realize his mistake before the massive cannon mounted in the tank’s turret spat a blanket of lead at him.
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Tokugawa Heavy Tank
Even juking to the right, most of the large slugs peppered the Anubis. Jiahan lost a lot of armor on his left side, including the arm where the only backup laser on the Mech was housed. Nothing vital was struck, thankfully, so Jiahan just swore, marked the tank’s location, and used more trees to block the tank’s sight. Even with his evasive maneuvers, the Anubis was followed by lasers that pulsed through the trees and shaved more armor off of his legs.
He was able to pull a sharp u-turn and dash back toward the friendly side of the pass. At this point, his coolant vest was chafing against his skin uncomfortably due to the sweat that coated his torso. Jiahan hoped that he’d have a chance to let the stealth system drop and let the heat sinks work their magic. Pai-zhang Andrzej’s greeting dashed those hopes.
“Good work, Feilong. We are forming up for a push. Take the rear flank.” A ping on the map accompanied the order.
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Lao Hu Heavy 'Mech
With a heavy sigh, Jiahan complied, signalling as much to his commander. The tanks were in front, with Andrzej’s Lao Hu shortly behind. It made sense, the Anubis and Tian-Zong were equipped to deal with longer range combat than the others.
They were moving slowly, carefully, just entering the pass when the sound of an explosion filled the surrounding area. Everyone immediately started to scan the area, looking for the source.
“There!” One of the tankers shouted out. There was a ping on the map. “Smoke!”
Sure enough, dark smoke began to rise above the treetops. Jiahan smiled, he recognized the general direction as one of his mines going off. It was vindicating that those mines he had so painstakingly laid out the night before contributed at all.
“A good sign. Keep pushing.” Pai-zhang Andrzej commanded, causing the whole company of Dai Da Chi warriors to push ahead buoyed by the potential damage that their enemies had sustained.
The undamaged Harasser was the next to spot the enemy forces. They confirmed an attack run but were driven back by autocannon fire. Minimal damage.
The tank commander in the Po II was savvy enough to have begun moving on an intercept course. It paid off wildly as a Clan Sortek was pinged and then summarily removed as a threat from the combat map.
Jiahan let himself feel a spike of satisfaction as he saw the red dot wink off the screen. He knew that he needed to get his Mech into a more optimal firing spot. The Anubis pushed around the Capellan formation just in time to see a flash of blue pulse through the forest. After a pregnant breath, the trees lit up with fiery light as the Po II was engulfed in an angry explosion. Thankfully, the onboard computer had deafened the noise of the blast since it exceeded a certain decibel level.
Rigorous Dai Da Chi training kicked in for Jiahan and he began to move his Mech in irregular patterns. The same Tempest from before showed up on his sensor suite along with a Tokugawa tank. Missiles from the tank leapt out at the Pai-zhang’s Mech, pocking armor around its torso.
The Lao Hu responded, filling the space between it and the heavy tanks with a thunderous amount of ammunition. It had missed, sending plumes of displaced earth up into the air, but the Tokugawa suddenly began to veer to one side instead of advancing forward. Twin Gauss shots from Tolin sailed overhead with one burying itself in a Striker tank that was sitting still behind the enemy forces.
Missiles spat out of the high mounts of the Anubis as Jiahan tried to contribute to what had become, essentially, a brawl. His missiles splashed into the opposing Tokugawa, rending armor but not doing much more.
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Warhammer IIC Assault 'Mech firing it's ER PPCs.
A terrifying Warhammer IIC announced itself by entering the battle with twin PPC blasts that sheared the left arm of the Cappellan Lao Hu right off. Pai-zhang Andrzej staggered at the sudden loss of tonnage, but twisted to meet the oncoming foe. His massive LB autocannon spat fury at the assault Mech, but only scored hits against its leg.
Five medium pulse lasers lanced out in retaliation. Armor melted off the Lao Hu so fast that it bubbled and popped off from the heat. The Tokugawa contributed with its own autocannon and shots from the ignored Tempest joined in as well. Most everything hit the Capellan heavy Mech, stripping off armor before tearing through the softer internals.
Jiahan watched with shock as the Pai-zhang took one shaky step forward and then collapsed to the ground. It felt like the whole battlefield paused. The Dai Da Chi forces all seemed to be glued to the prone Mech that had been carrying their leader.
“Focus that Warhammer!” His voice cracked as shouted the ultimatum over the comm unit. Whatever surprise the Dai Da Chi warriors were feeling, Jiahan’s command seemed to shake them out of it.
Tolin’s Tian-Zong turned and managed to bury two solid Gauss slugs into the Clan assault’s torso, though it didn’t seem fazed at all. Long range missiles from the Anubis peppered the massive machine, but might as well have been missing for all the damage it was doing. The Harassers came into play once more, attempting to outflank the Warhammer and hit it in its more vulnerable backside.
The hovers were thwarted by the still functional Tokugawa. It sent streak missiles crashing into the light tanks, disabling one and making the other juke predictably enough that an LB shot finished its service to the Capellan Confederation.
Jiahan was sweating bullets now, though if it was from just the heat buildup in his cockpit or from the nerves of a heated battle that wasn’t decisively in their favor, it was hard to tell. A particular tone let him know his launchers had reloaded and he waited for the computer to confirm a lock on the Clan Warhammer that was bearing down on Tolin. His shot was spoiled by a shrill cry from the computer’s proximity alert. Gnomes, forgotten until now, had disembarked and were crawling up the back of his Mech’s legs. Armor was being peeled off with small lasers and metal claws. Slowly, yet surely, the Battle Armor were making their way toward the torso of the Mech.
Jiahan squashed down a spike of panic as more armor fell to the dirt below. He tried darting his Mech around in an attempt to shake off the unwanted climbers, only succeeding in slowing their inevitable ascent.
“Tolin!” He radioed. “Battle Armor! Can you knock them off me?”
“Busy!” He could hear the distress in her voice and only just noticed the Gauss slugs sail several meters above his head. “Try using your arms to scrape ‘em off.”
That advice had been doctrine drilled into Inner Sphere militaries since the Clans invaded in 3050. However, it was advice that best served Mechs equipped with hands, which was not something the 30 ton Anubis boasted. Still, he took direct control of the war machine’s arms and flailed them in an attempt to dislodge the Gnomes. At one point, it was possible that he managed to knock one from scaling his machine, but it was hardly enough. Panic began to rise up his throat despite his best efforts to keep a level head.
“Hang on there Mech-jock!” His comms lit up. The call came from the remaining Harasser, limping toward him while trailing plumes of black smoke. “We gotcha!”
Jiahan could only grimace as the hover tank peppered his armor with SRM fire. They were more successful in eliminating the armor than he had been, but a higher than average number of the missiles impacted the Mech instead. The status screen continued to show the gradual decay of armor on his frame, getting dangerously close to non-existence in some areas.
The fire from the Harasser scared the troopers in the armor enough that, with three left, they leapt off the Mech and scrambled for cover on the forest floor. Relief flooded Jiahan as he put some distance between himself and the armor. He thumbed the Harasser to offer the crew his thanks, but was interrupted when the hover tank erupted into a fiery ball.
A quick flick of his cameras to follow the line of fire showed that the Warhammer had returned with a vengeance. Tolin in her Tian-Zong was on the back foot, trading long distance blows with the more maneuverable Tempest.
With the large assault Mech bearing down on him, Jiahan throttled his Anubis up to its maximum speed and started to weave through the underbrush.
“Taking damage, Jiahan.” He heard Tolin grunt over the comms. Several warnings were going off in the background of her broadcast. “Could use a little help.”
“I’ll do what I can.” The promise felt hollow, even as he swallowed the feeling of failure that had gotten stuck in his throat.
The Anubis sped through the trees, acquiring a lock on the barrel-like Tempest. Jiahan loosed every LRM rack at the machine, hoping against hope that something stopped the larger Mech. He even fired the small laser mounted in the right arm, even though he was well outside of its effective range.
Through the explosions and smoke, Jiahan saw the Protectorate 'Mech still standing. His heart sank as the 65 ton machine turned its torso toward him. He could feel the eyes of the enemy MechWarrior boring into him. Before he was overwhelmed with the fire he knew was coming, Gauss rounds slammed into the Tempest’s shoulder, flinging sheets of armor high into the sky. Something vital within the metal frame was clearly struck as the whole Mech shuddered before losing any control and crumpling toward the earth below.
Relief and elation rose up Jiahan’s spine, before it was suddenly cut off when he felt the sudden, inescapable pull of gravity. Warning flashed at him as his Anubis surrendered to the pull. A quick glance at the readout display even as fear threatened to seize his throat showed that the right leg of his machine had been entirely removed from the rest of the chassis. The Warhammer IIC had circled around and intercepted him as he had attempted to help Tolin.
There was nothing Jiahan could do but brace himself and twist his torso in a desperate hope to cushion the blow of the fall. A jolt shot up his spine when his cockpit bounced against the unforgiving ground.
Everything went black.
- Not from the Author
- Experimenting with mixed forces and chains of command.