AATiPDC Chpt 34

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==Chapter 34 - An American Tanker in Prince Davion's Court==
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===Mech Fall===
Above Clan Ghost Bear’s landing zone
Harvest, Federated Commonwealth
May 18th, 3050
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"Alright people, get ready; we’re going in hot. Deployment in 3…2…1…MARK!"
John ‘Iron Man’ Henry felt the rockets on his drop pod fire, the thrust causing his five-point safety harness to bite hard through his cooling suit; then, weightlessness. Through his cockpit cameras, Henry could see other drop pods hurtling towards the planet. ‘Hopefully, the cruise missiles had done their work’ he thought…
As Henry watched the displays in his cockpit, his drop pod began to shudder violently as it hit the upper reaches of Harvest’s atmosphere; the pod’s external cameras shut out as a plasma sheath began to build. Henry could see the temperature outside climbing rapidly.
'I hope those eggheads were right. Otherwise, no weapons.'
Henry felt more shaking as his drop pod descended through the planet’s atmosphere; he looked at the board in his cockpit and saw that all lights were green. His company was still en-route to the target.
After 15 minutes, the green lights turned amber. He keyed the comm panel "Alright, people get ready to eject. Remember the Big Red Lever."
Someone chuckled over the company’s comm; he ignored it.
7 minutes, Red then black.
"Pull! PULL!"
The walls of black surrounding Henry’s ‘mech fell away as the explosive bolts holding the pod together fired. He could see through the night vision that Clan AA fire had opened up; however, none could reach the angle the company was approaching from as they were coming in feet first.
Henry noted that his reactor was online, then followed up with a quick systems check.
"Remember people, get those packs firing!" There was a chorus of acknowledgements over the comm channel.
Then, the lights on the control panel turned red...
"NOW…NOW…NOW!!"
Below, in Clan Ghost Bear’s landing zone, those MechWarriors and Elementals who managed to get into their machines watched in horror and awe as four massive assault mechs (an Atlas II-B, a CRS-3R Crusher, a Mangler, and a Superflash) fired the jump jets on the back of their drop pods momentarily stopping their fall; just before they hit the ground, the remainder of the pods broke away before they hit the ground, the Atlas II-B crashed down onto a hangar, destroying a heavy aerospace fighter being readied for takeoff.
The Atlas and its lancemates slowly stood up, the monster looked down at the helpless Clanners as they scattered..
A song started playing loudly over the lance’s exterior warhorns….
I am Iron Man
Has he lost his mind?
Can he see or is he blind?
Can he walk at all Or if he moves, will he fall?
Is he alive or dead?
Has he thoughts within his head?
We'll just pass him there
Why should we even care?
He was turned to steel 
In the great magnetic field
When he traveled time
For the future of mankind
At the same time, the apocalypse started as every mech on the company let loose with everything they had; several BattleMasters used their ER PPCs and large pulse lasers to burn and blast through everything that wasn’t already rubble.
Those few Elementals that had managed to don their armor fought back as best as they could, while others were swatted like so many bugs before they could put on their armor.
One Clanner screamed into the radio.
"They are here, those dezgra spheroids launched an attack on the base; they're burning everything."
SaKhan Theresa Devillar replied "What?! How?"
The Clanner all but blurted out “they, they dropped from, from...ORBIT!"
"Who??!" No one answered.
Henry put a PPC blast into a building, setting it on fire and causing it to explode; he surveyed elting it and an explosion, surveying the running clanners, plus the ruined mech and aerospace repair bays.
"Alright, people. Break off the attack; we're heading to point LC."
Meanwhile, news of the attack on their landing zone went through Clan Ghost Bear like a tsunami over a sandspit.
"Break off, break off!! We are going to attack those filthy dezgra cowards! All mediums and heavies are to re-direct and head back to the landing zone now!" 
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